The City of Ballarat has received almost four times the number of vehicle damage compensation claims from residents in the last 12 months, reflecting concerns regarding the state of Ballarat's roads.
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In the 12 months to August 2020, 73 calls were received by council's customer service department regarding vehicles damage, with 11 compensation claims - one was settled, nine denied, and one is still active.
This contrasts the 12 months from August 2020 to August 2019, where 45 people contacted council, and just three requests for compensation were made.
All three were denied.
Residents from across the city have complained about potholes and other road damage in recent weeks, as heavy rains made smaller problems bigger - people from Sebastopol to Brown Hill, and truck drivers from further out, have contacted The Courier to complain about the lack of repairs.
One man, Ross Skilbeck, said his motorbike required thousands of dollars in repairs after striking a deep pothole on Cherry Flat Road, and council denied his request for compensation.
"It shook me up fairly well - had someone hit it at 80km/h, on a smaller bike, it would have been a whole different outcome," he said.
"I was slowing down, I saw the area on the left (of the road) is covered in mud on the road surface - there's a puddle there, it won't be too bad, but it was 150mm-plus deep, a metre long, and the far end was almost a 90 degree cut.
"I've hit that about 60km/h, because I'd slowed down, and it's launched the bike, it broke all of the headlight mount, and the fairing.
"This is a major road, they're not checking it as regularly as they should."
In a statement, council chief executive Evan King said council conducts regular inspections of its 1400km road network, noting response times can vary depending on "a number of factors".
Council is only liable for vehicle damage from defects or hazards if it is not aware of hazard's existence, according to the Road Management Act, and there are state government regulations for threshold limits for property damage.
"On occasions, issues with the road and footpath network appear after an inspection has already been conducted," Mr King said.
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"This time of year can be particularly challenging with the wet weather.
"We certainly have our road maintenance team out in force fixing potholes as they appear, and I really encourage the community to put in requests and we will assess and rectify in a prioritised manner."
Report any potholes by contacting council's customer service on 5320 5500 or online at ballarat.vic.gov.au.
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