Eden pensioner Tony Milward-Bason is embroiled in a battle with Bega Valley Shire Council over the driveway to his Mitchell Street property.
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Mr Milward-Bason says the road was constructed with the wrong camber which, together with inadequate drainage, results in water flooding down his driveway when it rains.
He claims his driveway has been eroded to such an extent that it is now unsafe.
In addition, the fence posts on either side of his home at number 58 have rotted away.
Mr Milward-Bason believes the only long-term solution would be for the council to realign the road and install kerb and guttering.
But the council has refused to fix his driveway or pay for its restoration, and it says that kerb and guttering is not an option.
Instead, council contractors having been working on installing a bitumen bern along Mitchell Street.
"I'm from the old school whereby if you damage something you fix it," Mr Milward-Bason told the Magnet last week.
"It is undeniable that drainage is a major problem; otherwise why would the council be working on the road now?
Mr Milward-Bason lives alone following the death of his 72 year-old wife Judy after a fall in the driveway in July.
Mrs Milward-Bason suffered multiple fractures to the pelvis and internal injuries when she slipped on the eroded sand and gravel.
She was taken to Pambula Hospital, then Bega Hospital, before being transferred to Canberra Hospital where she died from internal bleeding.
"I can't blame the council for the death of my wife but I can certainly blame them for her having the fall," he said.
"I first wrote to the council in May stating that the driveway was dangerous, they can't say they haven't been told."
Bega Valley Shire Council group manager, transport and utilities, Wayne Sartori, said driveways were the responsibility of the individual homeowner - not council.
Mr Satori stressed that all driveways should be constructed to meet Australian Standards - many, however, did not meet the criteria.
"This one [Mr Milward-Bason's] does not meet council standards," he said.
Mr Sartori said that rather than issuing an order for Mr Milward-Bason to replace the driveway, the council had tried to be helpful by installing the bitumen bern on the road.
While he was confident that the bern would help alleviate the water problem, it was impossible to guarantee that it would solve it.
"There will always be extreme weather events when the sheer volume of water will mean that even the best constructed road, or kerb and guttering, will fail," he said.
The council did not have a big kerb and guttering program across the shire and in many cases residents did not want to meet the 50/50 cost of installing it, he said.
Mr Milward-Bason has accused the council of making "policy on the run" instead of coming up with more permanent solutions to problems affecting ratepayers.
"The bitumen bern is at best a stop-gap measure," he said.
"It remains to be seen whether it will even work.
"The only permanent solution is for the crown to be taken off the road and for kerb and guttering to be installed."