Every Lismore LGA resident knows the recent rains in March and early April have played havoc with our road network. The rain not only creates more potholes, but it also keeps Lismore City Council crews off the road to do the necessary patchwork.

Fixing potholes in heavy rainfall isn’t possible, as the water prevents proper adhesion of patching materials, weakens the roadbed and delays curing. The only solution is temporary patching, to ensure the community can safely use the roads until a permanent solution can be achieved.

To catch up with demand and make the most of intermittent dry weather, an additional two crews from local contractors Tom Thumb Earthmoving and Downer have been brought on to work alongside Council's existing patching crews.

One of the additional crews will focus on villages, and the other on urban roads. These crews have been completing temporary patching, as well as general maintenance to keep our community moving. On average, crews use 12 tonnes of materials to patch potholes per day.

As part of Council's structured recovery plan, recent patching works have been carried out to address potholes on Dunoon Road, Nimbin Road, Kyogle Road, Invercauld Road, Corndale Road, Eltham Road, Numulgi Road and Wyrallah Road. Crews will continue working on roads across our network to record damages as a result of Cyclone Alfred, secure disaster relief funding and allocate resources to provide permanent fixes and address recovery needs from this weather event.

Our team of professional and technical experts continue to work across all asset classes. In the past 5 days completing:

• Approx. 100% Road assets have been inspected
• Approx. 100% Building assets inspected (Building/Parks/Gardens)
• Approx. 100% Water Assets inspected
• Approx. 90% Wastewater Assets inspected
• Approx. 80% Stormwater Assets inspected
• Approx. 100% Waste Assets inspected

A total of 1,092 items have been logged, with 540 being emergency works and 552 being damages.

Emergency works remain the priority to ensure public safety, while planning is underway to scope and resource for the broader immediate reconstruction works phase, which will be rolled out over the coming months.

Extensive assessments have been undertaken across our road network to record damages as part of the recovery plan. However, if you would like to report road concerns to Council, this is easy to do:

• Online: Through Council's Requests and problems on the website https://ecouncil.lismore.nsw.gov.au/eservice/crm/selectCategory.do?key_num=478&nodeNum=148596&nodeNum=148596
• Phone: Call 02 6625 0500 with the exact location and details of the damage
• Email: Send photos, details and exact location to council@lismore.nsw.gov.au

For more information on Council's recovery plan, visit: https://www.lismore.nsw.gov.au/.../Cyclone-Alfred-Recovery