One thousand six hundred and one. That’s how many potholes have been repaired between the start of the year and mid-August 2022.

That's three and a half times more than a usual six-month period.

Our pothole team (known as the asphalt team) has been busier than usual. For them, work begins at sunrise, and they start by loading up the truck with the emulsion and asphalt needed to get their job done.

On average, they repair around 10 to 12 potholes a day, depending how far they need to travel between each one.

As any drivers on our roads know, it’s been a particularly rough season for potholes. Rain is the enemy of the pothole. To be repaired properly and effectively, the road and the hole needs to be bone dry. That’s been a tough ask with the kind of year we’ve had.

Sydney received 1547.4mm of rain during the first six months of this year, making it the wettest January to June period in 164 years. Then July arrived. It was recorded as the wettest July ever, just in the first two weeks of the month. The average rainfall for the month of July is usually 96mm. This July, we received 404mm of rain in the month. And now we're bracing for another wet summer ahead...

For our team, this has meant a lot of never-ending work under tough conditions.

Which roads does Council look after?

It’s worth noting that not all the roads in our Council area are Council responsibility. Some are state roads and are the responsibility of Transport for NSW to repair and maintain. These include parts of Alison Road, Anzac Parade, Avoca Street, Carrington Road and Frenchmans Road, just to name a few. Click here to find out more about which roads are Council and which are State.

Big thanks!

A huge shout-out to the guys who do back-breaking work across our roads to keep us safe. We know it’s been a busy and tough year (so far!) and we appreciate it.

How to report a pothole

Once we receive a pothole request, we aim to repair it within three days. However, this can be tricky when we receive as many requests as we have lately. We do our best to prioritise high-traffic areas. Here’s how to report a pothole:

1. Visit our website and use our Contact Us form. Choose “Report a Problem” from the drop down menu and you’ll be taken to a map. Enter the address of the pothole and click next. From there, you’ll be asked to fill out a form and you’ll receive an email confirming the pothole has been reported.

2. Call us on 1300 722 542 and speak to one of our Customer Service representatives who will log the pothole for you over the phone. Or email us with all the information on Council@randwick.nsw.gov.au.