Hawkesbury City Council (HCC) is facing an eye-watering $190 million repair bill for roads damaged by six floods in two years.
A recent report by the council said it had filled in over 7,000 potholes since mid-July but was not able to keep up with demand.
Council spending on sealed roads rose to $3.93 million in the 2021–22 financial year, in contrast to the previous four years when the council spent about $1.18 million annually.
HCC Mayor Sarah McMahon said the report detailed a "mammoth task" caused by flood events and a backlog in maintenance.
"There hasn't been the maintenance that has been required in the past," she said.
"Our staff over the last few months have fixed more than 7,000 potholes and so many keep getting reported daily.
"With the continued wet weather, it's really hard to get on top of it."
Figures in the report included major repairs for significant road damage.
The rebuilding of Cornwallis Road is valued at $45 million, the repair of Greens Road at Lower Portland at $16.5 million and the replacement of the destroyed Colo Heights Bridge at $3.7 million.
Major funding required
Disaster recovery funding from state and federal governments only allowed roads to be rebuilt to the standard they were before the flooding.
Cr McMahon hopes the council will be able to use its own funding, including through a recent rate rise, to fund repair projects and bring infrastructure to a higher standard.
"We do believe we'll be able to not just build it back to what it was, but build it better," she said.
"We are able to seal a lot of roads that have never been sealed before."
HCC Infrastructure director Will Barton said the council did not have enough money to make the roads flood-resilient.
Hawkesbury is not the only Sydney council struggling to fund enormous road repairs after consistent flooding rain.
Other councils in similar boat
Blue Mountains City Council Mayor Mark Greenhill told ABC Radio Sydney that about 22 per cent of their road network had been severely damaged.
"To build [it] back so that it doesn't happen again, we're looking at a bill of $400 million," Cr Greenhill said.
"This toll created by climate change is well beyond the capacity of local government."
City of Canterbury Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour said the council had fixed nearly 3,500 potholes over the past two years but wet weather had renewed the problem.
"Unfortunately every time we fix a pothole, we get another rain event," he said.
Potholes 'just get bigger'
Horse farm workers Thomas Conn and Bella Du Plessis are facing a $3,000-repair bill after their ute was damaged while driving over potholes.
They said a neighbouring worker had busted a car tyre three times on the same road.
The pair work at Karaka Park, located on Pitt Town Bottoms Road, which went underwater during July's flooding.
The potholes created by flooding have been exacerbated by trucks that frequent the road.
"It just makes it so much worse," Ms Du Plessis said.
"The potholes just get bigger."
"This is the worst road in the Hawkesbury as far as potholes, but they're all pretty bad," Mr Conn said.
Mr Conn said the council had not indicated when they would fix the road, but said the entire stretch needed to be fixed at the one time.
"They haven't given us a time frame. We don't know if it's [the council] going to be fixing it next week, or it's going to be a year's time," he said.
A network under stress
Cr McMahon said she sympathised with people whose vehicles have been damaged by potholes and said she had lost a tyre due to road damage in the area.
"I need to strongly urge drivers to please drive to the road conditions," she said.
"It's no secret that our network is under complete stress.
"Right now, there are potholes everywhere. We're trying to fill them but please just slow down."
Competition for contractors
The report said a significant problem had been competition from other councils for contractors to fix roads, with flooding across parts of the state creating a spike in road worker demand.
HCC said on one occasion it had to wait four months to secure a road patching machine for just six days.
Its report said contractors were also having issues hiring and retaining staff.
"That lack of people power and of course, the lack of resources to get it done really, is a problem not just here, but everywhere," Cr McMahon said.
