A BUSINESS owner has criticised Bathurst Regional Council and Roads and Maritime Services over the surface laid on a section of Vale Road recently.
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Graeme Gillbanks, who owns two businesses on Vale Road between Rocket Street and Lloyds Road, said the work carried out recently has changed the height of the road and made it difficult for vehicles to access driveways.
Only last week the rear of a truck got caught on road, seeing a forklift called in to help it become unstuck.
The truck then had to be unloaded on the roadside.
Mr Gillbanks said the issue was that “the crest of the road is too high and the kerb too low”.
“One of these days a truck is going to get stuck and block the whole road,” he said.
“It is nearly impossible to get in.”
Mr Gillbanks said the issue was so serious that the business involved, his tenant, has considered moving to a different location if they continue to be unable to properly access the driveway.
The crest of the road is too high and the kerb too low.
- Business owner Graeme Gillbanks
The work on Vale Road was carried out as part of an ongoing $1.2 million upgrade to the surface.
Council contributed $200,000 to the project and is carrying out the works on behalf of the RMS, which put $1 million into the works.
Mr Gillbanks said he didn’t place the blame solely on council, saying the figures would have been supplied by the RMS.
He said more consultation should have been undertaken before any work was done.
“The solution would have been to consult with the businesses and houses up that street to tell us what they were going to do and we could have told them it wasn’t going to work,” Mr Gillbanks said.
He has taken the issue to council and hopes a solution will be put in place before any more vehicles become stuck.
Council’s general manager David Sherley acknowledged that the rehabilitation project had caused some issues and said these were being looked into.
”The result of the upgrades has changed some levels of the road,” he said,
“Council has received feedback from the business that is affected and is addressing the area of concern.”
A spokesperson for the RMS also said the project, due for completion in the coming weeks, was being looked into.
“Roads and Maritime is reviewing work carried out on this project,” they said.