Footpath ‘ rough as guts’

A GULLIVER business owner is angered by botched work on a footpath outside his business.

Townsville City Council staff began work on replacing the bitumen walkway on Mooney St on Monday.

However, the day’s work, produced a footpath with uneven edges and rough surface.

Gallon’s Automotive owner and mechanic Geoff Gallon said the new bitumen was “rough as guts”.

“The contractors ripped up the bitumen to relay a fresh load of bitumen, and now the footpath is a mess,” he said.

A different team of workers returned on Wednesday to do the other side of the driveway from Gallon’s Automotive.

“The council foreman said Monday’s work was going to be done all over again,” he said.

“They did a better job on their side and they said the other contractors should be sacked. They already affected my business when they were here doing it and now they are going to do it all over again.”

A council spokesman said the work done on the footpath replacement at Mooney St was not good enough.

“Council crews will be sent out on Wednesday to replace the footpath and ensure it is done correctly,” he said.

“We would like to apologise to any of the nearby businesses that the initial works were not up to standard.”

Mr Gallon said there was nothing wrong with the path to begin with, and any new project should have seen concrete laid rather than bitumen.

“It should have been done once and done right,” he said.

“They wasted all their money doing this when they already had a footpath here.

“They just gobbled up bitumen and put bitumen back down. I couldn’t believe they were even doing the footpath without doing the gutters first.

“The driveway to get into my workshop is so bad that I’ve poured concrete over it myself to get into the driveway.”

Monday’s contractors also affected Marion’s Sewing Room on Mooney St after the trucks knocked into the business’s sign, causing it to become tilted.

Employee Peta Horton said the contractors told her it was the vibrations of the truck that did the damage.

“That’s what they tried to tell us,” she said.

Picture: SCOTT RADFORD- CHISHOLM ANGERED: Geoff Gallon of Gallon's Automotive and Peta Horton of Marion's Sewing Room look on with dismay at the new footpath on Mooney St, Gulliver, which has been criticised for not being up to standard.