Heather Kidd, Shropshire Councillor for Chirbury and Worthen, has urged Shropshire Council to spend more resources on the epidemic of potholes before compensation claims start to flood in.
Heather said “The budget has been cut back so much now that repairs are falling seriously behind schedule. Major roads are being repaired but side roads often go un-repaired despite heroic efforts by Highways Department staff. They are simply not given enough resources to do the job effectively. In my area alone many deep and dangerous holes have been repaired in the last month and there remains many, many more to do.
“Serious pot holes need to be repaired within three days but this target is increasingly not met leaving the Council open to legal action if a motorist’s car is damaged. Surely better to pay money now to get the roads repaired in the first place than have to pay out. With millions sitting in reserves, surely some can be diverted to this immediate need especially as the cold weather is causing significantly more holes to appear. We need more teams out dealing with them.”
Heather is raising this issue at the Council’s ‘Protecting and Enhancing Scrutiny Committee’ tomorrow (Tuesday 12 February).
“Lets hope somebody on the Administration listens” concluded Heather “or it will be the council taxpayer that will foot the bill.”