By CASEY NEILL
AN ENDEAVOUR HILLS man is chasing the City of Casey with a repair bill after nature strip tree roots broke through his driveway.
Ziggy Szymanski said the council had not been returning his calls.
But parks and reserves manager Trevor Griffin said it had responded to all correspondence and was assessing his claim.
Mr Szymanski said roots from the nature strip trees outside his Barnsley Drive property “ripped up the footpath” about three years ago.
“My wife complained and they fixed the footpath and cut the roots,” he said.
“The big trees on the nature strip, they’ve now damaged our driveway.
“We complained and they told us to fill in forms, send photos.”
He said he’d followed up with several phone calls since March and they had not been returned.
“They want you to pay your rates on time,” he said.
“When you need something from them they don’t respond.”
Mr Griffin said the council undertook works to prune tree roots and repair the footpath both outside the property and in other sections of Barnsley Drive in 2012.
He said council officers and the council’s arborists had recently assessed the property and spoke to the property owners in relation to their concerns.
“Council has responded to all correspondence from the property owners and is currently assessing their claim for compensation,” he said.
