A motorist has been hit with a repair bill worth hundreds of dollars thanks to a 15-centimetre deep pothole at Kembla Grange.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
And he is angry with Wollongong City Council for not picking up the tab.
A night-time rideshare driver, Joe Baez was on Reddalls Road in the early hours of July 28 when the huge pothole claimed his Toyota Prius.
"There was water covering the whole area so I was unsuspecting," Mr Baez said.
![Joe Baez and the huge pothole on Reddalls Road at Kembla Grange, which caused hundreds of dollars in damage to his car. Picture by Adam McLean Joe Baez and the huge pothole on Reddalls Road at Kembla Grange, which caused hundreds of dollars in damage to his car. Picture by Adam McLean](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/4FavSveeQdYEHssZq5umRQ/7b326d28-1e24-42a6-8d58-0ee5f4621c07.jpg/r0_0_5443_3629_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I thought maybe it might be a shallow pothole - then whack."
It wasn't just the tyre that was damaged. The massive pothole also bent the wheel, which had to be replaced, and shattered a foglight.
"It cost me $500 in repairs but including lost income it's around a grand," Mr Baez said.
"I couldn't drive on that Saturday [as a rideshare driver]. I need my car to earn and I was sidelined because of the fact that I can't drive without a spare in the car. The spare was on the passenger side just to get it back home."
Because maintenance on Reddalls Road is the responsibility of the council, Mr Baez requested it reimburse him. The council rejected his claim, with Mr Baez saying he was told the pothole was "general wear and tear".
"Mate, 15 centimetres isn't just general wear and tear," he said.
"General maintenance I can understand. Maintenance takes time to do, but to let something go that bad on an arterial road - this is not only an access road to Whytes Gully it's also the access road to do pick-ups and drop-offs for the fleet cars."
A council spokeswoman said it was waiting for Sydney Water to fix a fault before it could more thoroughly repair the road surface.
"We're aware that a section of Reddalls Road (adjacent to the power station) has been damaged and is submerged by water," the spokeswoman said.
"This is due to a break in a Sydney Water pipeline. As a temporary measure, council has patched up this section as best we can.
"We are unable to determine the extent of damage and repair the road until Sydney Water has fixed the leak. We've contacted Sydney Water and requested their urgent assistance."
She also highlighted a page related to potholes on the council website, which stated the presence of a pothole "does not automatically make council liable".
"For us to pay compensation, you would need to prove that we were negligent; for example, that we knew about the specific pothole, and failed to take action to repair it in a reasonable amount of time before your incident," the website stated.
The spokeswoman said the main causes of potholes were significant rain and wear and tear from vehicles.
"Council is responsible for maintaining thousands of kilometres of roadway across the Wollongong Local Government Area and undertake renewal and replacement works on a programmed basis," the spokeswoman said.
"We also encourage residents to help us keep roads, footpaths and cycleways in good shape by letting us know early if you find a problem."
Our news app has had a makeover, making it faster and giving you access to even more great content. Download The Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store and Google Play.