Appalling state of roads

I would like to wholeheartedly endorse

Sussexworld’s ‘Gone to

Pot’ campaign and applaud their efforts in revealing the appalling state of Chichester’s roads.

When first elected, I started a regular ‘Pothole Patrol’ and I regularly post about my findings in and around Chichester on social media. The response was overwhelming and I heard from dozens of residents clamouring for better road repairs, from Bosham in the west to Pagham in the east.

The fury from residents has been met with a dim response, however. WSCC’S so-called ‘velocity patchers’ have been glacial in their efforts.

Potholes that have remained in place for months remain absolutely untouched until they become a problem. Orchard Street in Chichester is a fantastic example of this, and now more closely resembles a dirt track than an arterial road.

The facts are these – WSCC no longer has its hands on the wheel when it comes to road repairs. When WSCC’S Highways team finds two potholes side by side, one reported and the other not, WSCC’S highways team will fill in the reported pothole and ignore the other.

It is this wilful blindness that I and our residents find rage-inducing. I accept that weather is an issue locally, but WSCC’S lack of imagination and failure to save money by failing to fill in potholes that are ‘too small’ for their standards, but are likely to become an issue in future, is simply infuriating.

At times it can feel as though we are playing pothole whack-a-mole.

But sadly it will continue until WSCC can learn to get back behind the wheel and resolve this issue once and for all. James Vivian