State Of Roads A Sore Spot That Is Causing Unkindness

The state of our roads has caused some Hawkesbury residents to forget their manners.

Hawkesbury City Council Mayor, Sarah McMahon understands that stress caused by repeated states of emergency and the state of roads can make people grumpy but she asks that people make an effort to practice kindness when contacting Council staff and each other.

“I am at the point of telling our communications team, who looks after our Facebook page, to turn comments off on some posts,” Mayor McMahon said.

“The job of Council staff is to do what they were employed to do.

“When disasters hit, there are additional things to their day-to-day jobs that our staff need to do.

“When you have ongoing, repeated disasters like we have had here in the Hawkesbury, our staff go well above and beyond what other staff in other Councils do.

“They have put in exceptional hours to do the best job they can possibly do and many of them are mentally drained right now.

“They are sick of being abused.”

Most recently, the mayor posted about the city’s success in gaining almost $16 million in funding for four major projects expecting that Hawkesbury locals would welcome the news.

There were a few who saw the benefits or the community, but they were overshadowed by vocal posters insisting that the funding would have been better spent on roads.

Mayor McMahon doesn’t dispute the fact that the roads are a mess, and that they are doing everything they can to repair them but it is going to take time.

“Roads are a state-wide problem right now and road base is in short supply,” Mayor McMahon said.

“All of us at Council, no matter what our political stripes, were shocked at the comments on Facebook.

“I was super proud of our staff who had done all of this hard work to get all the necessary documents in for the funding.

“Let’s celebrate the win for our area.”

When Councils apply for funding grants, there are precise legal and technical requirements they must adhere to.

Some of those requirements include where the funding can and cannot be spent.

While the funding Hawkesbury City Council procured for the four community projects was not able to be used for road repairs, Council continues to apply for every grant they may be eligible for, including those designated to fixing our roads.

Council’s social media posts generally include links to more information so that residents can learn more - please take the time to click on those links and learn more and contribute to any that ask for input.

At www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/emergency/flood-emergency/flood-project-updates you will find a list of road maintenance and repair projects that is updated daily. Report potholes and road damage at www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/_resources/forms/roads-reporting-form.

• Topics:

• Floods
• Road Safety
• Local Council