'742-year pothole backlog' claim rejected

SOUTH Gloucestershire Council has rejected claims it would take 742 years to repair all of its crumbling roads and potholes.

The figure was put to council leader Toby Savage at a cabinet meeting in March by Yate town councillor Chris Willmore, who said it was based on raw government data used to compile a league table of backlogs.

She told Mr Savage: "You have more A-road length than Bristol but only managed to repair a third as much. At the current rate of repairs, Bristol could repair all its A roads in 56 years – you would take 170 years.

“If we go to the other roads, South Glos repairs half as much each year even though it has more roads. Bristol at its current rate would take 391 years to repair all those roads – South Glos would take 742 years.”

However a council spokesperson said the estimates were based on the assumption that all of the network needed to be repaired, whereas only 3% of A-roads and 7% of other roads needed urgent maintenance, with the network as a whole in "a very reasonable condition".

The council launched a new online system for reporting potholes and other issues on roads, footpaths and cycleways last summer.

A spokesperson said council crews had "filled around 17 per cent more potholes since the start of January compared to last year".

The spokesperson added: “This time of year is traditionally busy in terms of repairing potholes as the cold and wet weather over the winter months takes its toll on our road surfaces. We repair around 11,000 potholes a year, although it is difficult to provide an exact number as repairs may include multiple potholes under one job."