A major Sydney council has come under fire over the condition of a public carpark in Bankstown used by thousands of motorists, with repair work only beginning after a social media video drew widespread attention to the site.
Mahmoud Ismail, a western Sydney local known for regularly highlighting dangerous roads in the area, raised concerns about the West Terrace Carpark in a video that attracted more than 400,000 views in less than 24 hours. In the footage, he showed potholes packed with pebbles and, oddly, a rug, as well as a range of other hazards throughout the facility.
Next to a senior citizens’ centre, the heavily used carpark was plagued by potholes and leaking pipes. Ismail also highlighted faded road markings, loose power cables dangling from the ceiling and bollards he said were “hanging on by a thread”.
He joked that the site had not been maintained since the Bulldogs last won an NRL grand final, which was in 2004.
“People are fed up. People are messaging me every day … the least you can do is maintain your car park,” Ismail said.
Amid the damage and disorder, he also noticed council rangers issuing fines to cars that had overstayed time limits.
“I wish they put that effort into the potholes,” he said.
“This is one of the worst car parks I’ve seen, and I’ve seen so many car parks.”
One man appearing in the video said the entire bottom level had been covered in water for six months because of a leaking pipe. The ongoing dripping had both created and filled several deep potholes, turning the area into a serious risk for drivers. Broken pipes could also be seen hanging from the ceiling.
After the video took off, Canterbury-Bankstown Council told nine.com.au it had already been working on repairs at the site.
“Fire service specialists were called to the car park this morning and repaired a leaking fire hydrant, which has contributed to the damage to the roadway,” a spokesperson said.
“Council staff have laid asphalt and made temporary repairs.
“They will wait until the area has completely dried out before carrying out heavy-duty patching.”
Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Bilal El-Hayek also responded under Ismail’s post, saying the council had moved quickly to fix the problem.
“You flagged it – we fixed it!” he wrote.
“Council undertook temporary repairs to fix the potholes. Once the area is fully dry, we’ll be able to carry out more heavy-duty works.
“For context, there’s also a fire hydrant located in that carpark that was leaking and the leaking made the issue worse.
“That fire hydrant was also fixed [on Tuesday] thanks to special fire service workers.”
A representative from a local wedding venue told nine.com.au the run-down appearance of the carpark was hurting business.
“If a bride and groom come to book here and see the entry looks like this, they’re not going to book,” she said.
She said the lot had become busier than ever, even though council rangers were regularly fining illegally parked cars. According to the representative, traffic had surged after Bankstown train station closed, forcing replacement buses to occupy street parking nearby.
She said repair crews arriving on Tuesday morning came as a surprise.
“Until today, nothing was fixed,” she said.
“But I came to work this morning and noticed they had finally patched the potholes.”
“They never looked at it until they came and raised the issue and the problem on social media.”
On Wednesday, Ismail uploaded another video saying the carpark had been repaired following his post on Monday. He said the potholes had been covered, the abandoned rug from the middle of the carpark had been removed and the leaking pipe was under repair.
“The council must be watching my videos,” he said.
