St Francis Brick to the rescue of motorists

Following the recent heavy rains, all local roads have deteriorated badly.

In particular Tarragona Road’s notoriously bad bend became almost impassable for traffic.

John Hanley of St Francis Brick and Plant Hire  generously offered the loan of a TLB and driver to grade and level the stretch as a temporary measure.

This exercise was completed at lunch time on Thursday June 21. At the same time the drainage pipe under the road which had become blocked at both ends was reopened allowing flood water to flow under the road again.

According to Niugel Aitken of the St Francis Bay Residents Association (SFBRA), this exercise was completed at lunch time yesterday, 21 June. At the same time the drainage pipe under the road which had become blocked at both ends was reopened allowing flood water to flow under the road again.

“I cannot stress enough how important his gesture has been in giving us a temporary respite with this problem,” Aiken says. “We were unable to get any answer from Council as to when they might be in a position to begin repair work as all of their TLB s are out of order. We know that the Council has no money right now for repairing roads and that it is unlikely that money will be allocated in the next budget for new equipment.

“St Francis Bay is down to a four-man pothole team which is totally under resourced to cope with the scale of the problem  in terms of manpower and equipment.
I would like to appeal to all St Francis businesses to consider giving us assistance to bridge the gap and at least keep our town’s roads open and safe until such time as we can rely on Council action.

“I need to reassure all residents that the SFBRA is totally committed to engaging with Council to resolve these matters. However, the state of our roads is now in crisis and we have made an urgent request to Council for a delegation of senior management to visit St Francis Bay to see the extent of the problems for themselves. Unfortunately this will only happen in July once the new director takes up his position.”

Aitken also reveals the slurrying of Tom Brown Boulevard is still planned but can only commence once we have had a dry spell and the roads have had a chance to dry up. Similarly the filling of the major potholes can take place as soon as dryer conditions return. “In the meantime, we are appealing to everyone to be cautious on the roads.”
He adds that the SFBRA extends a huge vote of thanks to John Hanley.