Call For Action To Deal With Potholes As Councils Given Extra Cash

Councils across the HFM region are to be handed extra cash to repair potholes.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveilled the new £200m fund in yesterday’s budget, with Leicestershire County Council to receive £3.1m and councils in Northamptonshire getting a total of £3.4m.

The announcement comes as concerns are raised about the condition of roads across North Northamptonshire, with over a thousand people signing a petition in a few days calling for more to be done to repair potholes.

North Northamptonshire Council received a record number of reports about road defects last month.

Cllr Jim Hakewell from Braybrooke represents the Rothwell and Mawsley ward and told HFM potholes are taking too long to repair, posing a danger to road users, particularly cyclists and motorcyclists:

A pothole in Braybrooke

Cllr Graham Lawman, North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive member for Highways, Travel and Assets, said: “Maintaining the highway is a priority for the council and we have a comprehensive, year-round, programme of inspections and works in place to address highways defects.

“More recently, we invested an additional £1.5million in a wide-ranging programme directly into communities to maintain local roads, footpaths, signage and drainage, whilst allowing teams to find and fix potholes that would not normally be on the programme of immediate repairs.

“Like the rest of the UK, at this time of year, the backlog tends to increase as winter weather speeds up the deterioration of our network. Additionally, crews are spending more time responding to winter events, such as gritting, rather than having the capacity to fix roads.

“We urge people to continue to report any highways defects through the Street Doctor service – which received record reports last month – with the council fixing defects on a well-rehearsed priority basis in accordance with the published Network and Asset Management Plans, guided by the risk they present to road users.

“Some road maintenance treatments are not possible in cold weather and, in the Spring, the council will start its more widespread resurfacing programme, providing long-term permanent repairs on larger areas of roads.

A pothole in Braybrooke

Speaking about the additional money to repair potholes in Leicestershire, Cllr Ozzy O’Shea, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “We’re always grateful for extra resources to keep our roads in good condition.

“For us, this means an extra £3.1M. Keeping the roads of Leicestershire moving is an absolute priority, so this additional funding will complement the existing £17M we’re investing in this area from this year’s budget.”

A road near Braybrooke