Letter: Will Plague Of Potholes Last Forever?

Published on: 23 Feb, 2015
Updated on: 23 Feb, 2015

From Kelly-Marie Blundell, Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate for Guildford

Are we to be plagued by potholes in Guildford forever more?

Last year Surrey County Council received 4,000 claims for damage resulting from potholes, paying out a quarter of a million pounds in compensation. Money that could have been better spent on our schools, our health and indeed on mending the roads in the first place.

Any driver knows the plight of roads such as Stoughton Road, The Chase and Shalford Road, and yet despite continuous reports and calls for action from residents and councillors alike, the number of craters in the road continues to rise.

We see a further rise in council tax, 1.99%, from Surrey County Council, we see increased pay for Conservative county councillor executive members and we see our roads continue to fall into disarray.

We must demand they are improved and now. Not in a few years.

Responses to Letter: Will Plague Of Potholes Last Forever?

Bernard Parke Reply

February 23, 2015 at 11:43 pm

There is a of course an answer towards funding this unacceptable danger.

Levy a road tax on all motor vehicles many of which no longer pay any excise duty at all.
- Terry Duckmanton Reply
  
  March 2, 2015 at 5:31 pm
  
  Sorry Bernard, I am strongly opposed to the imposition of anything which will give motorists the idea that they are paying directly for the upkeep of the roads. This would inevitably lead to a situation in which ‘road tax’ paying motorists would believe that they had a greater right to use the roads.
  
  Anyone perceived as not paying for the roads, cyclists already receive much abuse based on this incorrect premise, would be seen as a legitimate target for the ‘road tax’ payers and calls would be made to have non-payers removed from the roads. It was for this reason that Winston Churchill successfully campaigned to have road tax abolished way back in 1937.
  
  The use of motor cars should be discouraged, particularly in town centres. The streets should be given back to pedestrians and cyclists who pay for the upkeep of roads through general taxation, but cause far less damage than motorised traffic.
Jim Allen Reply

February 25, 2015 at 9:41 am

The process of not filling in pot holes in residential areas is quite simple. They remain simply to remove complaints of speeding – ‘a most hienous crime’.

Roads have been re-surfaced in other areas, which by anyone’s observation did not need doing such as at Clay Lane. That has aided and assisted the promoting of the proposed nearby link road which will cross the green Belt and flood plain.

It is time Surrey Highways ‘opened their books’ and displayed their true intentions in respect of order of repair.

Stoughton Road should have taken precidence over Clay Lane.

The money being spent on trying to circumvent Zone 3b flood plain and trashing Green belt lines should bave been spent on Stoughton Road.

But that is difficult when I believe the councillors of Stoughton are supporting the un-needed link road thus diverting cash from their own wards.
Martin Elliott Reply

March 1, 2015 at 9:24 pm

SCC makes much of Project Horizon (road repairs) and Potholes Project (unamed) with allocated funds of over £100 million for five years.

There are even published schedules of roads/years.

Of course, these schedules put back the programme six months because they forget to put consultation with the district committees in the programme.

But by changing the schedule the programme is now on time again.

Do I sound cynical? Why yes, because as a project engineer I am unable to make any sense of actual performance by any measurable or trackable parameter.

I fear yet another important project is about to enter the realm of amateur management.

Cllr Furey is also lead on flood alleviation and prevention works. Has a project plan surfaced yet ?
Bernard Parke Reply

March 3, 2015 at 9:07 am

I appreciate Terry’s concern.

Perhaps I should explain that I was not referring to cyclists, but to the vast number of vehicles that no longer pay excise duty or contribute directly to our road maintenance programme.

Currently, no tax-paying motorists demand that they have a greater right to use our road system, neither should they.
John Simpson Reply

March 9, 2015 at 1:54 pm

I agree with the point made by Martin Elliot.

As an engineer myself, the lack of any measure of performance is worrying, especially when the amounts being thrown about are considered.

Another aspect is the fact the process for getting roads on the system seems as random as ever.
Jules Cranwell Reply

March 11, 2015 at 8:32 am

I had the men from SCC in my road this week. They filled a pothole two inches deep outside my house, but left one three inches deep, just six feet away.

The repairs they did make are poor and patchy, and unlikely to last more than a few months.