Potholes up 127%: claim

The number of potholes on our roads rocketed by an average 127 per cent between 2000 and 2010, it has been claimed.

 

County Councillor Russell George, The Conservative Assembly candidate in Montgomeryshire, said that his party uncovered figures that show a jump in the number of potholes, or other “visual defects” that was over three times higher than in England.

 

Local authorities have seen an average 40 per cent rise between 2000 and 2010, while local authorities in London alone saw an average increase of 21 per cent over the same period.

 

Cllr George, who is also a Powys County Councillor recently called on the Assembly to support a change to road maintenance in Mid Wales and end the culture of continuous short-term fixes for potholes.

 

He said: “The figures are proof that the condition of local roads are totally unacceptable. We should not have to put up with a highway network that is getting much worse and at a much faster rate than over the border in England.

 

“Potholes are fast becoming a problem that our councils just can’t keep up with. The Assembly government needs to reassess its priorities and get us out of a failing culture of costly short-term fixes.”

 

Last month it was revealed that Powys County Council received an extra £500,000 from the Welsh Assembly to repair our roads after the coldest winter on record.