While he could not claim to be a regular user of the roads, Mr Wesselingh had received negative feedback on the state of the council’s roads for years.
"Not just now, but in the past there’s been a lot of comment from people saying that they’re just not up to scratch and they’re not being maintained."
"They haven’t received the maintenance they should have — it’s just playing catch-up."
He said he wanted the council to be "proactive" in maintaining its gravel roads.
"In hindsight it’s easy to say now, isn’t it, but gravel roads, you’ve got to keep them up really: regular run-arounds and maintenance."
So-called savings made by district councils on roading were in fact fuelling a growing problem and a greater cost down the road.
Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher has described rural roading in the district as "challenging".
He agreed the council was playing catch-up but it was not due to a lack of spending, or diligence, on the part of the council but was due to the intensification of use on rural roads, the types of vehicles and the volume of traffic, that had changed at such speed that problems had begun to crop up in some "hot spots".
The council had found, and would continue to find money for the council’s "biggest ticket item", despite a reduction in the central Government funding for roads.
He noted the council had allocated $150,000 in its last annual plan for traction seals in areas where perhaps intense use might corrugate a section of a road.
There had been challenges over the last three years with floods, but Mr Kircher has also said if he were to be re-elected, improving rural roads would be a priority for the council.