Tyre repairs ‘flat out’

Local building boom behind surge in punctures

IT’S the hidden cost of the Surf Coast’s building boom and it’s leaving drivers feeling flat.

Tyre punctures have soared across Torquay and Armstrong Creek, as more than seven developments undergo a mass construction blitz in the region.

Local tyre repair stores revealed the number of tyre punctures were through the roof — or ‘through the rubber’ — due to an army of on-themove trucks and tradies leaving behind a trail of nails, screws, and scrap metal.

A stack of new housing estates have exploded on the city’s fringes of Armstrong Creek and North Torquay, the building boom becoming a minefield for drivers and a windfall for tyre repair services.

Tyres & More Torquay manager Tony Boros said tyre punctures had more than tripled in the area in the past year, due to the mass construction blitz.

“We’ve been ‘flat out’ with puncture repairs,” he said.

“It’s because of all the new houses and estates going up in Torquay.”

Mr Boros said the store averaged about 13 punctures a day — up from about three or four in recent years.

He put the puncture surge down to the region’s mass construction blitz, coupled with careless tradies.

“We’ve had tradies come in and there’s loose screws in the back of their utes and they can fall through,” he said.

“We’ve had some odd things come through tyres — roofing screws, big screws with rubber fields and drill bits.”

An $18 million housing development on Grossmans Rd in Torquay and a $60 million Armstrong Creek town centre on the Surf Coast Highway remain some of the region’s major construction projects.

Residents vented about their puncture pain on a Surf Coast social media group, which has reportedly cost some locals hundreds.

Torquay resident Ginni Bilston said her husband got two flat tyres within 48 hours back in June, which cost a whopping $600 each to fix.

“It was when they diverted all of the cars off Merrijig Dr which sent traffic through major construction ahead,” she said.

“There was instant damage to the tyre and then the other one also blew.

“His car had to get towed and they had to get replacement tyres in from interstate.

“It was a pain in the neck.”

But other growth areas in Geelong did not seem to be impacted by the puncture influx.

Service centres at Leopold and Lara averaged about three or four puncture repairs a day, compared to up to 13 in Torquay. Other tyre stores revealed they were pulling out a range of odd debris in tyres, including knife blades, glass and sharp pieces of metal.

Tyre Power Torquay manager Nick Vivian said he had served one customer who had three punctures in a month.

“It definitely comes down to tradies not cleaning up after themselves,” he said.