Kentish Express Ashford & District
‘Fixing potholes is a top priority’
Kent County Council is pledging to fix hundreds of potholes permanently before the winter as part of an ongoing £5.2 million drive to repair damaged roads.
A pothole blitz started in April and is due to run until Christmas if the weather remains good during October and November.
And the politician in charge has promised to make sure repairs to potholed roads are done to a standard that means they will not be any need to revisit them.
KCC cabinet member for highways Cllr Matthew Balfour said: “Potholes are one of the biggest bugbears for our residents and remain one of our top priorities each year.”
“People often assume these are quick and temporary fixes but I can assure you these are not. We do a quality, first time fix, and do not expect to be back out again fixing the same pothole.”
“We have got local crews working on filling potholes who know their areas and this year we’ve extended the scheme up until Christmas to ensure our roads are ready for the winter months ahead.”
To date this year, KCC has spent £2.7 million, patching 66,800 square metres and filling an equivalent 133,600 individual potholes on a road network of over 5,000 miles.
Earlier this year, the KM Group revealed how the county council had managed to avoid paying compensation to motorists using a loophole.
More than 500 pothole compensation claims from motorists were rejected in Kent in two years – on the grounds the council was planning to repair the roads in the future.
A law permits authorities to dismiss claims made by motorists whose cars have been damaged by defective roads if they can demonstrate the road in question was scheduled for repair “within reasonable time”.
KCC has contracted the work out to local companies in the districts to ensure quicker response times to reports of problems.
Mr Balfour added: “All this work isn’t to suggest we don’t need people’s help in reporting potholes. We can’t be everywhere all the time and so I’d encourage people to go online and report potholes so we can arrange for them to be filled.”