Volunteers take to the road to f ill potholes

WITH potholes blighting villages and no money to repair them, a group of councillors turned to the community for help.

Thankfully, an army of recruits stepped forward to help patch up the roads.

Now, with almost 200 repairs under the volunteers’ belts, the county council hopes even more people will be willing to lend a hand.

The cash-strapped local authority, with a backlog of £750million of repairs to make, trains volunteers in hole-filling safety for two days before letting them loose.

The training gives volunteers a certificate that qualifies them to work on the roads, filling in potholes with a material called Instarmac. They are given ‘punners’, to pound down the tarmac, and a broom.

The ‘community road wardens’ scheme launched in Devon is thought to be the first in the UK.

Parish councillor Barry Thrussell, 69, fixes potholes up to 2.5in deep in the village of Clyst Hydon.

He said: ‘Provided you’ve got people who are community conscious it’s a way forward, but I wouldn’t say it’s ideal to maintain the standard of the roads.’

The council says that all of the potholes repaired by volunteers are still intact – and the scheme is being expanded across the county with a further £100,000 of funding.

Volunteers have county council third-party liability cover and are advised to get personal injury insurance. The council has 20 wardens on its books and is urging more to join up.

Other volunteer jobs include sign-cleaning and gulley-clearing.

Stuart Hughes, a county councillor who volunteered in his ward Sidmouth, said that the results had been impressive. He added: ‘The road warden scheme came from requests from local councils asking to be allowed to do more.

‘We’re unable to do as much minor work as we continue to face budget reductions from central government.

‘I’m pleased that we’ve had a chance to make sure the system is tried and tested and I’m sure other wardens across the county will now want the opportunity to carry out similar work.’

Devon has the largest road network of any highway authority, with maintenance costs of £60million a year. Other councils are considering adopting the scheme.

‘Safety defect’ repairs and the filling-in of larger potholes will continue to be carried out by specialised crews.

John O’Connell, of the Tax-Payers’ Alliance, said: ‘This may seem silly at first glance but schemes like this can help the council to free up time for officers and other staff, while reducing costs for taxpayers.’