Letter: Please Support My Petition For More Action On Potholes

Published on: 13 Apr, 2013
Updated on: 13 Apr, 2013

From Mark Eshelby

I am writing to you as a Surrey resident who has become increasingly frustrated with the state of our roads and our numerous potholes.

I have had two run ins with potholes so far this year that have required new tyres and I am currently experiencing problems in getting Surrey County Council to fix a dip in a road in Albury that is causing vibrations which are damaging a listed wall. I am pretty sure I am not alone in my annoyance.

Because of this I have decided to get myself considered one of those with “too much spare time” status and have created a petition on line which I hope fellow Surrey residents will sign. It requires 10,000 signatures for and official response and 100,000 signatures for it to be considered for debate in the House of Commons but it does need to be properly promoted to achieve this.

Here is a link to the petition in case your readers might like to support it: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/47609

Responses to Letter: Please Support My Petition For More Action On Potholes

Andrew Neill Reply

January 4, 2014 at 4:30 pm

All the roads around Guildford arte very badly potholed. My German friends think they have come to a 3rd World country
Jim Allen Reply

January 4, 2014 at 8:37 pm

Clearly your German friend has not travelled the Berlin Helmstad road pre-reunification. It was potholes surrounded by tarmac,

Besides the more the potholes, the slower people drive and that’s what every one wants isn’t it?

Personally, I prefer smooth roads so I will sign the petition and keep reminding Surrey County Council when I spot potholes.
Bernard Parke Reply

January 5, 2014 at 9:18 am

No doubt Mr Neill has contacted his county councillors, some of whom actually make policy.

They are our paid representatives.
Bibhas Neogi Reply

January 5, 2014 at 1:30 pm

Surrey County Council was to receive an extra £4.2m for road repairs over the two years 2013 to 2015 from the central government. The money was from a pot of £215m funding by the Department for Transport and was to be given to councils to use for improving roads.

The question is – did the council received this money, and if they have, what are they doing with it? Or is the fund not enough to deal with all the potholes in Surrey?
Martin Elliott Reply

January 8, 2014 at 12:39 am

Surrey County Council has two projects with their contractors. One to expedite pothole repairs and one to carry out general road repairs.

they were announced with publicity in April in a big fanfare but not a lot since.

There were some low level releases that the road repair project was months late because the programme, initially, didn’t have any arrangement to consult local committees concerning priorities.

Since the council paper (as usual) only reports successes we have seen no more.
Martin Elliott Reply

January 8, 2014 at 1:11 am

But if you dig, there is a (sort of) monthly report.
http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/road-maintenance-and-cleaning/our-highways-maintenance-contract/highways-contract-performance