Pothole problem needs real action Answer to homes issue?

Dear Editor People complain daily about the disgraceful state of our roads; recent press reports have claimed that our roads are worse than those of several ‘majority world’ countries.

Yet there is little visible improvement, if any.

In Perth, our road surfaces are crumbling badly. If they are like that now, what are they going to be like at the end of the winter?

What has made matters worse is the third-rate quality of repairs and replacements carried out in recent years.

The streets in our area – Kinnoull – were resurfaced a few years ago, but the standard of the work done was so poor that surface crumbling and potholes are appearing everywhere.

The council would have been wiser to leave them alone; the previous surfaces were much better.

What will it take to make our councils do something about the problem?

I claimed and won my case against the council a few months back for broken suspension on my wife’s car caused by a pothole.

There was a lengthy exchange of correspondence with the lawyers concerned, no doubt costing the council a great deal in fees or increased insurance premiums.

Would it not have been cheaper to have repaired the pothole when it was first reported?

Only one example of poor – and dangerous – road conditions is where Queen’s Bridge meets Tay Street in Perth.

I now slow down much more than used to be necessary on that corner – coming almost to a halt – because I fear for my car’s suspension on the potholes, none of which I can now avoid safely.

There is always the possibility that an inattentive driver behind could run his vehicle into the back of mine as I negotiate the corner.

I see no mention in the Press of any councillors bringing up the subject of road repairs at council meetings.

All we hear about are the council’s enormously expensive pet projects, such as the Cultural Centre.

What we need is just one councillor who will speak for all of us and demand that the council spend no more money on non-urgent projects until our roads are restored to a reasonable condition. At our next local elections I shall certainly be asking council candidates what they are going to do about our roads!

Get your heads out of the clouds, councillors, and attend to the essentials! George K McMillan email Dear Editor Perth councillors maintain that we need more housing so why are they allowing a school to be converted into arty studios instead of flats?

Also, could they not purchase Harry’s Bar which would make wonderful flats.

I would also question why they asked the public to vote for the best conversion of the City Hall and then rejected their favourite.

What was the point?

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