Pothole patching work ‘disgraceful’
Following our discussion about the disgraceful state of North Berwick High Street and Westgate with potholes at the last North Berwick Community Council (NBCC) meeting, I wrote to Tom Reid, head of infrastructure at East Lothian Council, and asked what the council intended doing to remedy the situation.
His reply was: “Regarding the overall road condition of the High Street and Westgate, all identified roads are inspected as part of the council’s Needs Assessment Policy whereby individual locations are assessed and rated for comparison against other similar locations in East Lothian so that the funding the council can allocate to such works is targeted where the need is greatest.
“The overall condition (Needs Assessment) of the above roads has just been completed and the section between Market Place and Westend Place has a rating which is sufficiently high to warrant inclusion in the upcoming financial year’s (April to March) programme of carriageway resurfacing work and I envisage that the work is likely to be undertaken in the autumn/wintertime.”
Following further correspondence with the council, they responded with the following: “However, as you are indicating that NBCC would be supportive of the works being undertaken at the earliest possibility given the comments you are also receiving, we have been able to identify two days on March 21 and 22 when there are no other restrictions on the High Street to progress interim repairs.
“A suspension of parking will be required at the affected areas to allow works to progress, and signs and cones will be sited at the location in advance.”
On March 21, a squad of workmen appeared and proceeded to patch the potholes – despite myself having said in my initial correspondence that patching does not last long before breaking up.
The result is an absolute mess, disgraceful workmanship, appalling oversight and a waste of money.
It will be interesting to see how long the patching lasts.
Given that it has been voted the best place to live in the UK, surely North Berwick deserves better from East Lothian Council!
Kathryn E Smith Secretary, North Berwick
Community Council