Anger at ‘waste’ of ‘patchwork’ road repairs
ACOUNCILLOR has slammed highways bosses for ‘wasting thousands of pounds’ in the way they carried out repairs in a cul-de-sac.
Residents on Wykeham Grove, Spotland, were delighted when workmen arrived to repair potholes on their street. However Coun Faisal Rana is furious that, instead of resurfacing the whole road, they filled in each of the many potholes separately.
He said: “This quiet little backwater just off Edenfield Road resembled the surface of the moon as it was so full of holes.
“I backed residents’ demands to have this dangerous street resurfaced. It must have been the worst road in Rochdale.
“But when the workmen finished the job I couldn’t believe my eyes. It’s gone from looking like the moon to a patchwork quilt.
“Local residents were left speechless. It must have cost a fortune to repair it like this.
“Common sense says it would have been a lot cheaper to resurface the entire road. It’s only about 30 yards long.
“I counted 20 separate repairs alone in the small turning head at the top of the street.
“Everyone knows patching up roads is only a short term solution.
“They’ll be coming back again next year when the road surface starts breaking up. What a waste. When money is short it’s doubly important the council spends our taxes wisely.
A council spokesman said: “The repairs to Wykeham Grove were done after a safety inspection and in preparation for the street being fully resurfaced later in the year as part of our record investment in highway repairs.
“This, as well as the cost of road repairs, has been explained to Councillor Rana, who has also been given assurances that the repairs meet current national standards.”
Coun Rana is calling for a review of how the council spends its highways budget, as an extra £12 million is being spent over the next two years repairing Rochdale’s roads.
He added: “I have raised these issues with the council leader Allen Brett and Coun Neil Emmott who is in charge of highways.
“They have been really supportive and agree with me that this needs investigating.
“They are also looking into whether it would be cheaper for some or all of this work to be carried out by the council’s own staff instead of doling it all out to contractors.”
“Common sense says it would have been a lot cheaper to resurface the entire road”