Dangerous Hole In Elizabeth Bay Pavement - Repaired
There has been a dangerous hole in the pavement outside 16-18 Roslyn Gardens, Elizabeth Bay for MORE THAN ONE YEAR.
The concrete top of a Telstra manhole is completely broken up into pieces & much of it has been removed completely. The Local Council pavement surrounding the hole has eroded. Anybody stepping on it would break their leg and land directly on the Telstra cables/wires below.
I have complained to Local Council (City of Sydney, Clover Moore), Federal Government (Malcolm Turnbull), Telstra, filed a TIO (Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman) complaint, and filed a NSW State Ombudsman complaint.
After all that, still nothing has been done about the hole! This is a disgrace and is indicative of the lazy disinterested attitude that pervades our public service & public utilities. They will not be so lazy & disinterested when they are sued by someone who seriously injures themself or when a child accidentally dies from electrocution.
Local Council (Roy Bishop for Clover Moore) said by email that it is not their problem, Telstra said it is in the repair list and may not be repaired for months or even years, Malcolm Turnbull did not reply, the TIO said it's not their jurisdiction but is in fact Local Council's jurisdiction since the hole is in a Local Council pavement & advised me to complain to the NSW Ombudsman. I filed a further complaint with Local Council & have had no reply whatsoever. The NSW State Ombudsman has not replied.
This hole must be fixed immediately. It is unacceptable that it has been there for more than a year. Are we becoming a developing nation? If this is the status of our streets in good economic times, does this mean our streets will deteriorate even more now that we are in a global depression?
Incidentally, if it is Council's responsibility to keep structures on our pavements safe, they should also do something about the Telstra barrier in Greenknowe Avenue, Potts Point, which is turned upside down, meaning the dangerous sharp spikes (legs) of the barrier are sticking upwards. If a pedestrian tripped and fell onto the barrier, they would get a stake straight through their internal organs. Something for some under-employed council worker to put their mind to...
I am so fed up, I was going to give this story to the Wentworth Courier, but now I have the perfect venue to publicise my complaint.
Hole has now been repaired
Recent comments
- I will request staff to look
1 week 4 days ago - Who do we speak to for a more
2 weeks 4 days ago - Another failed government
4 weeks 1 day ago - www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/wa
4 weeks 1 day ago - Plants removed from pavment -
4 weeks 4 days ago - Hi anonymous,
Councils do not
4 weeks 5 days ago - Our neighbour burns wet wood
5 weeks 2 days ago - Finally there is 2 lanes into
5 weeks 2 days ago - I received a fine too
7 weeks 4 days ago - I am wondering if someone can
7 weeks 5 days ago
Comments
Yes, this venue is superb: whoever devised this deserves an award.
Likewise in McDonald Street, Potts Point, on the corner of McDonald Lane, there's a 'gravel pit' where the pavement has been dug up and yet, after about 2 years, no restorative work has been done.
It's extremely dangerous.
Sydney Council is mentally moribund. It has no pro-active compliance team.
"We act when you complain", its CEO has said publicly in committee meetings.
So it now seems that despite raking in $100 million in rates per annum, it just waits - and waits - until citizens take back control of their own heighbourhood.
So why then do we need council witht these councillors claiming their $300 per year "brief case allowance" ?
Andrew Woodhouse
President
Potts Point and Kings Cross Heritage Conservation Society
Ph 0415 949 506
I have to say that this is very poor customer service.
I too have made a complaint about a parkig officer who displayed bullying behaviour and have received no response from the City of Sydney Council.
But if they think they can just delete emails and erase the issue, they have another thing coming. I will be holding the person I sent it to, accountable.
How dare residents are treated as liabilities, we pay them!
Where is Clover Moore ( "more for our city") doing about all this? She should be reading each and every post on here and taking action immediately? Is she taking it easy or are the two roles of Mayor and MP too much?
Also what about all the other councillors who beg us to vote for them during election time and later when they get in , it seems they are nowhere to be seen.
There's a Liberal councillor there and he should be rolling up his sleeves and doing what true Liberals do - taking action and tackling the issues.
She should be reading each and every post on here and taking action immediately?
In response to this, I think Waverley Council and Cr. Sally Betts is setting a GREAT example for other councils. It takes little time to read these complaints and write a response acknowledging the problem.
Currently 5 out of the 7 gripes in Waverley Council have a response from the council, you can see all the gripes from Waverley Council here.
Council Gripe is currently working on ways to make the council reply process easier and hopes to have it up and running over the next few weeks. If there is any particular functionality you would like to see, let us know at admin@councilgripe.com
Regards,
Chris
Council Gripe
I am the original complainant, and would like to make clear
THAT I DID NOT POST THE BIG THANKYOU YOU SEE ABOVE.
After MORE THAN A YEAR putting up with that hole, and formal complaints to about 5 different bodies, I CERTAINLY DO NOT THANK THEM. They should be thanking me for my time and effort spent in raising their standards and trying to beautify (or normalise!) their streets.
And I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED AN APOLOGY from Council or Telstra for the unbelievable stress they put me through in jumping through numerous hoops to mend an everyday pavement hole - a basic service they are required to provide for the high rates we all pay.
I will add that as you can see above, unfortunately the big black patch of bitumen they have used does not match the existing pavement and looks quite ugly. Oh well, I guess you can't expect TOO much!
Just for the record I would like to reiterate the inefficiency and idiocy of Telstra: just a couple of days ago, many days AFTER the hole had already been repaired, Telstra left a message to say that the repair was in their list and would be acted on in due course!
Conclusion: the only way to get anything done in this city is to do it yourself. Pressure, pressure, pressure. Please everybody go to infowars.com and wake yourselves up a bit. Government is the servant of the people, not the master.
I am still to hear from the council regarding this, I have a very busy life and we need to get this pavement issue sorted now so I can go back to writing my memoirs, I am calling it 'Andrew Woodhouse, the life of a twat"
ps.s i have a cheesy nob
It's disgusting isn't it.
Here's the latest from the City of Sydney Council - the first email looks like they actually might do something; the second email negates it, almost ignoring the promise made in the first email, by stating it is not their responsibility!! Note that these 2 emails ARE FROM THE SAME COUNCIL MEMBER!!!
"I have registered a further complaint today (Enquiry Number 41316250), and have stated that if the pit lid is not replaced within 7 days, I will instruct my maintenance crews to remove the barricade and fill in the pit. I have also advised them that if the repair is not made within that time frame, the matter will be referred to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
I share your frustration and concern over this issue, and hope that it can be resolved soon.
Regards,
Graeme Warren
Civil Maintenance Manager
City of Sydney"
And the 2nd email which seems to indicate they will not be filling in the pit in 7 days' time:
"The TIO response states that they can only investigate a complaint if lodged by Council, which I have already stated I will do if no response is received from Telstra.
Responsibility for repair of the pit lid remains with Telstra, as the owner of the infrastructure.
Regards,
Graeme Warren
Civil Maintenance Manager
City of Sydney"
Today I lodged AGAIN with the NSW OMBUDSMAN because they didn't receive my inital online complaint lodged in the past fortnight!! This time I sent it personally to a manager.
Today I also lodged an online complaint with the Office of Fair Trading against Telstra.
So the tally of my frustrated attempts at getting a simple hole repaired include complaints to:
1. Council (Clover Moore)
2. Telstra
3. Federal Government (Malcolm Turnbull)
4. TIO (Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman)
5. NSW Ombudsman
6. Office of Fair Trading
Can you believe it???!!!!
Anyone would think Australia was a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY or a COMMUNIST BLOCK COUNTRY filled with slack & inefficiencies where nothing ever gets done!!!
An utter disgrace. A complete shirking of responsibilities.
Dear Council Gripers,
Please feel free to contact us at Central Magazine either at the email address bradleyr@couriernews.com.au or editor@centralmag.com.au
I read someone was thinking of the Wentworth Courier but Central is the newspaper which covers the city of Sydney Local government area and the one that deals with council on a daily basis.
We won't always be able to write stories about cracked footpaths but we will certainly publish your letters and love your comments on our website.
I should also add councillors read the letters each week so it's a good way to reach their ear.
It doe sound like there is a pattern of urban street scape neglect going on in this case so please feel free to contact us about the Telstra manhole and related issues.
Kind Regards,
The Central Team
The Sydney Central Team is extremely professional in our experience.
Some of their past heritage articles have been simply superb and put so-called "leading daily" papers to shame in terms of research and anlaysis. The current editorial team is keeping up this tradition.
But to be fair to all parties, and since they are both in the same 'stable', the Wentworth Courier does also cover Paddington,Kings Cross and Potts Point. Their 2008 Sydney Council election coverage was amazing.
In addition, there is also The Sydney City News, which can take a particular slant on things, but which will take up stories when other papers can't/won't.
It has a fearlessly-guarded and jealous independence with passionate editors who like to drill down to core issues.
I have been dealing with them all for over ten years and I hope my comments come with equipoise and are seen as fair. I also declare a small side-interest: I write a small Head to Head column of robust verbiage for The Sydney City News, a little fun and frivolity.
We can be very thankful to all these outlets. They know that where there is accuracy, fairness follows.
Thank you to all.
Andrew Woodhouse
President
Potts Point & Kings Cross Heritage Conservation Society
heritageandconservation@hotmail.com
Ph 0415 949 506
The City of Sydney has made numerous requests to Telstra over a number of months to have a Telstra pit lid in front of 16-18 Roslyn Gardens replaced. Because there had been no action from Telstra over a long period of time, the City was about to conduct temporary works including covering the pit with a steel plate and asphalt to assist the local community, when Telstra installed a new concrete lid today.
Josh MacKenzie
Senior Media Officer
City of Sydney
Yes, at last the concrete manhole covers have been replaced! After one year! Fantastic!
However, Josh, don't fail to overlook that THE JOB HAS NOT BEEN COMPLETED.
Now the Council must fill in the pavement surrounding the manhole with concrete/bitumen. Telstra has simply filled it in with dirt.
I have emailed same to Graeme Warren of your Council.
Please let me know WHEN THE CITY OF SYDNEY COUNCIL WILL BE REMOVING THE DIRT FROM THE PAVEMENT AND REPLACING IT WITH CONCRETE/BITUMEN.
A half-done job is not a job done at all.
I mean 'don't overlook'
Good news Gripers.
Central queried Telstra about the situation with the man hole covering and the next thing we knew the hole had been covered.
I have not seen this for myself but Council told us this was the case.
So good news and proof the local newspaper is of use in these situations dare I say it.
Please contact us with any stories or significant local issues should they arise as we welcome community feedback.
Regards,
Robert Burton-Bradley
Central Magazine
Thanks Central! It takes public embarrassment to get them moving.
However please now talk to City of Sydney Council, since the pavement surrounding the manhole has just been filled with dirt.
The Council needs to finish the job & finish the pavement corrrectly with concrete. People will just walk the dirt straight in the the apartment building in front of the manhole.
Thanks
Regards
Mr Robert Burton-Bradley,
I see one person has been asking in Wentworth Courier Letters over the past 4 or so weeks, what Paddington councillors what they have been doing for their electorate ... one Cr has responded but still awaiting what the other 2 (Cavanagh and Medcraft) - do you think if we put a letter in Central, it would be better to get a response from them? Your suggestions??
Hi there,
My apologies for the late reply.
Central only covers the City of Sydney council area.
Try Jennifer bennet at the Wentworth on bennettj@couriernews.com.au
She covers Woollahra Council.
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