Opinion: We Need to Talk About… Potholes

Published on: 25 Feb, 2026
Updated on: 26 Feb, 2026

Potholes seem to be everywhere on Surrey Rods – here on Sydenham Road by the Castle Car Park in Guildford. Ben Darnton

By Cllr Jane Austin

Cllr Jane Austin

leader of the Conservative Group at Waverley Borough Council

As a borough councillor, I’ve been as frustrated as everyone else by the explosion of potholes over the past couple of months. Many of us now carry an internal “mental map” of our worst local craters – where to brake and where to swerve. This is an issue across the UK right now – not just in Surrey.

Highways are the responsibility of Surrey County Council, not the Borough Councils, but I’ve spent a great deal of time chasing repairs on behalf of residents.

But I am concerned about the quite ridiculous politicisation of potholes in recent weeks. #ToryPotholes by the Liberal Democrats – does that mean the potholes in Lib Dem-run councils are #LibDemPotholes? Can’t we have a grown-up debate about this?

Lib Dems also say they want to address the pothole problem.

If we are serious about solutions, we need to talk honestly about why things feel so bad right now – and what would actually fix it.

Here’s my assessment:

Why Are the Potholes So Bad Right Now?

1. Surrey’s roads are under intense pressure

Surrey has one of the most intensively used and oldest road networks outside London. High traffic volumes, HGV movements, and heavier electric vehicles all add stress to road surfaces.

Water seeps into cracks like these, on the original Woking Road that runs parallel with the A320, gradually breaking the surface allowing potholes to form. Ben Darnton

Add our geology into the mix. Much of Surrey sits on sand and heavy clay that retains water. When water seeps into cracks, traffic forces the surface apart. If temperatures drop, freeze–thaw cycles expand the damage. Once the base layer fails, patch repairs can become short-term sticking plasters.

2. The rain

This winter hasn’t just felt wet – it has been wet. January 2026 was the fourth wettest on record nationally and one of the wettest on record for southern England, at more than 200 per cent of the long-term average, according to the Met Office.

Water infiltrates cracks and weakens the structure beneath. Saturated road foundations fail under traffic. In January alone, Surrey Highways received over 7,000 pothole reports — more than three times the previous month.

3. You can’t fix potholes when it’s raining

Surrey Highways tell me they currently have around 30 teams out undertaking more than 1,500 repairs per week. But the dire weather is an issue – permanent repairs require dry conditions as hot asphalt cannot properly bond in a water-filled hole.

If the sub-base is saturated, even a good repair may fail. Emergency pothole work means planned resurfacing programmes get delayed – just as demand spikes.

Utility works contribute to road surface damage which can develop into potholes. And pothole repair work, while welcome, creates more traffic problems and delays. Ben Darnton

4. Utility works add pressure

Residents often ask why a road dug up last year is already failing again.

Potholes don’t appear out of nowhere. Many develop in the scars left behind after utility companies dig up roads. In Surrey we are under siege – there’s an average of 147 roadwork interventions every day.

A newly laid stretch of road by Surrey Highways is expected to last 30 years. But let’s be honest – utility companies rarely backfill to the same standard as Surrey Highways. The moment a utility company breaks into a stretch of road it halves its lifespan.

Even if repaired well, a trench creates a structural weak point. Over time, joints crack and water tracks along seams. Across Surrey, repeated trenching inevitably adds strain to the road network.

So, What About Funding?

This is where the debate needs to be grounded in facts.

For 2025/26, Surrey is set to receive roughly £35 million government grant for local highway maintenance through the Department for Transport’s funding formula.

That is not enough to meet long-term maintenance need. Surrey County Council therefore more than doubles that investment using council tax and other local resources. This is comparable to councils of all political colours across England – every authority tops up.

The issue lies in the funding formula. Government uses a “needs-based” formula which crucially doesn’t account for how intensively roads are used. Surrey’s network carries heavy commuter and freight traffic, yet because we score lower on deprivation measures, we receive less funding per mile than some areas with lighter usage – including parts of the North of England.

The result is a mismatch between the strain on our roads and the money available to maintain them.

The uncomfortable truth is that central government funding does not meet the full long-term maintenance need anywhere in England. Every county council tops it up locally — and still faces a backlog.

Potholes can seriously damage cars and even cause accidents if drivers take sudden avoiding action. Cyclists can be thrown of their bikes, especially at night when potholes are not so visible. Ben Darnton

How Do We Fix This?

Blaming one factor or one political party won’t fix the potholes. Residents are right to be frustrated. The answer is structural investment, better coordination and honest recognition of the pressures facing our infrastructure.

None of us want it to get to this stage!

If we want roads that last longer, our incoming West and East Surrey Unitary authorities will need:

Predictable and increased central funding

Stronger legislation so our council can force utility companies to coordinate – and enforce penalties when they do a bad job

Greater emphasis on preventative resurfacing – prevention is better than cure

That’s why I fully support the commitment made by my party ahead of the May unitary elections: to resurface every road that needs it within the first term of office. That is making taxpayers’ money work smart – and seeks to fix the problem, not just ‘patch repair’ it.

Meanwhile… I will do some more praying to the weather gods for it to stop raining now that spring approaches.

Responses to Opinion: We Need to Talk About… Potholes

Ed Holliday Reply

February 25, 2026 at 1:55 pm

I welcome the grown up debate, so important to face this difficult issue and perfect storm of funding restrictions, increasingly wet winters and heavy traffic conditions we face in Surrey.

Why are we seeing campaigners posting using their #ToryPotholes hashtag with fake social media profiles? Please join the grown up debate.

Ed Holliday is a Conservative Godalming town councillor
- Giles Pattison Reply
  
  February 27, 2026 at 3:11 pm
  
  Fake social media profiles aren’t unique to anti-Tory posts. Local Tories have been re-posting Haslemere Fact Check for years. It’s run by a fake profile with a fondness for clowns.
  
  Oddly, this doesn’t get called out by local Conservatives as it pretty much exclusively attacks the Lib Dems in general and Cllr Paul Follows in particular.
  
  Presumably that fake account is simply doing “God’s work” and therefore gets a pass.
Mike Truman Reply

February 27, 2026 at 12:10 pm

That hippo photo is very funny, but please can the Dragon adopt a policy of tagging or watermarking AI generated or otherwise “faked” photos? No-one is going to think that one is real, but others could be less obvious, and once separated from their context could be misleading.

Editor’s response: Thank you. you raise a good point. It is very unlikely we would use AI images in any news report and if we did we would certainly label it as such. We might use such images in non news reports, eg opinion pieces, for illustrative purposes, and cartoons but will label them if it is considered there is any chance of misleading readers.
Giles Pattison Reply

February 27, 2026 at 3:00 pm

I agree with most of this article, there are several reasons, not unique to Surrey for the state of roads at the moment, but a couple of points come to mind.

Has the pledge at the end of the article to “resurface every road that needs it within the first term of office” been costed and, if so, does that mean Cllr Austin already knows how much funding will be available in order to achieve this?

Secondly, the reluctance of Surrey Conservatives to accept any responsibility at all for the situation feels rather selective. Cllr Austin’s party have run Surrey for 53 years, during which time decisions have been made that contribute to the difficulties we currently face.

Taking Highways into the private sector, poorly negotiated contracts and a lack of supervision and quality control have all made matters worse and could all have been done better. I’m pretty sure if the boot was on the other foot the Conservatives would be hash-tagging libdempotholes left, right and centre.
Olly Azad Reply

February 27, 2026 at 9:57 pm

Potholes! The bane of my life, and I’d imagine every pedestrian, cyclist and, of course, the poor motorist who seems to be short-changed each time they required by law to pay the road or car tax, whichever you prefer to call it, in order that public roads can get fixed?

Fat chance of this happening anytime soon.