Dammed nuisance

By Bridget Brady
A WARNEET man says Casey Council is ignoring a duty of care that leaves him ankle deep in water.
Len Butler said he was fed up with a lack of correspondence from the council, and said requests to flatten his crowned street to prevent flooding had fallen on deaf ears.
Mr Butler said the road was muddy and slippery and access to his house on Corandirk Street was almost impossible when wet, unless he wore suitable footwear. He was also unable to open his gate at times.
Parts of the street had consistently flooded since 2005, Mr Butler said, which has caused much frustration.
He first asked the council to flatten the gravel road in 2008 and when he contacted the council again this year he was told someone would be in touch with him. But Mr Butler said it had come to no avail.
“I’m sick of banging my head against the wall,” he said.
“Yes, there are some terribly roads down here, but they are ignoring Warneet.”
Casey’s engineering and asset management manager David Richardson said the council was aware of Mr Butler’s concerns and said the area lacked a constructed underground drainage system.
Mr Richardson said the council had a number of complaints across the municipality due to the wet weather this year.
“The council will be reviewing the drainage management in these particular areas and will then be in a position to determine cost estimates of possible solutions,” he said.
Mr Butler took matters into his own hands this year and cut a groove across the roadway to alleviate the flooding.
“We have a health and safety issue here and they’ve completely ignored it. I’m pretty fed up.”
Mr Butler has written to Hastings MP Neale Burgess about his concerns.