Jason Cox has been engaged in an ongoing dispute with council over potholes in the Bomaderry area for the past month and a half.
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Mr Cox, who is also the president of the Nowra Rotary club, began his conversation with council on April 15 when he notified staff via email of what he viewed as the worst roads in Bomaderry, namely Meroo Road, Belinda Street, Yeovil Drive and Brinawarr Street.
His email included a map demonstrating his audit of Bomaderry pothole locations, which he said coincidingly showed some of the most frequented rat runs as well as routes taken by trucks near the eastern industrial areas through the pattern of disrepair.
"If you've got a prime mover weighing up to 50 tonnes frequenting a road like Meroo St, you're going to do a bit of damage," he said.
His email also asked council for "firm answers and clarity" on why road quality in Bomaderry was so low, when road work projects will commence and what was council's policy for deciding upon where and when to fix damaged roads.
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After waiting a week and a half for a reply, he decided to call to make sure his email was received.
He was advised there was a delay as the original staff member in charge of his issue was no longer in their role and an engineer would soon be in contact.
But alas, Mr Cox did not receive a response to his phone message from council within their chartered two day response time.
In fact, eight business days later and a council response had not yet been received.
So, on May 5, after almost three weeks of waiting for an official response to his initial questions, Mr Cox decided to file a formal complaint, including council CEO Stephen Dunshea in the correspondence.
Mr Dunshea replied the same day saying Mr Cox's call would be responded to as a matter of priority.
And within half an hour it was.
It just goes to show you can get stuff done depending on who you squeeze
- Bomaderry resident Jason Cox
However, Mr Cox said his issue now lied squarely on the email response he was sent a couple days after receiving the phone call.
In it, a Shoalhaven engineer said he was pleased to advise that council had considered Meroo Road for pavement rehabilitation works and it will be scheduled subject to budget approval in July 2021.
The engineer also said work orders had been raised for pothole repairs for "council reference 'merit 635335, 635391, 635392 and 635394' of the roads that were marked on [Mr Cox's pothole map]".
But Mr Cox said he had no idea what these 'merit' numbers were in reference to or how to look them up and that his concerns extended beyond just Meroo Road.
So he asked for clarity on May 8 but he said he was yet to receive a response.
He maintained his original question of wanting firm answers and clarity was never met because he was not supplied with clear information on what would be repaired and when.
"[The emails] were almost wilfully being difficult," he said.
"I should be able to go to council and get a reasonable response."
A spokesperson from Shoalhaven City Council said the merit numbers reference council's internal recording system for maintenance works.
"In future, residents will be provided information using street names rather than merit reference number," they said.
His dispute with council activated his desire to run for council where he said he will bring greater accountability in council if he is elected.
As part of Councillor Nina Digiglio's 'community first' team of independents, Mr Cox will be number two on her ticket.
He said the approach of having to fight with council to get things done was a bit 1990's and "we should be able to work with council as a community of rate-paying members for positive outcomes".
If I'm having a problem with council, and this has been continuous, then everyone else must be going through the same rubbish.
- Bomaderry resident Jason Cox
"It's a community issue - it's not about me. I'm just happy to get stuck into people and to get stuff done."
He said some of the roads, like Brinnawarr Street, had been patched up in recent months but the material was already disintegrating.
"The patch up policy isn't working very well on the busier roads and there needs to be a proper strategy of repair or the council should look at redirecting traffic," he said.
Mr Cox said council should have one point of contact for road-related issues within a given area rather than the issue getting passed around to different people.
He said he was working with Nina Digiglio to raise his matter as a notice of motion at an upcoming council meeting.
The spokesperson from Shoalhaven City Council said engineering staff have written to Mr Cox and are working with him to resolve the issue.