My local council's roads dept are beyond a joke

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Renard

Guest
I'll keep this brief. Local unclassified road in the countryside which they publicise as a 'cycle route'. Windfarm being built. Road is now pothole city.

Out on bike yesterday and spoke to old boy who told me a tale. Seems that the day before he had helped a girl who had hit one of the potholes coming down the hill. An ambulance was called and girl spent the night in hospital.

Cycled up said hill this afternoon. Really bad with potholes I thought. This hasn't just happened overnight (I know so because I cycle it fairly regularly).

Halfway up what do I see? Council pothole team's lorry pulled in at the side of the road and the three guys fast asleep inside. I have no idea what they were doing there because none of the potholes have been touched. Would be really funny if it wasn't so maddening!

Do you think I should do anything about it? What sort of tactics would you employ if you were to complain about it?
 

bonj2

Guest
you should have took a pic of the three guys asleep. would have been good for the papers. Might still be though?
 
i'd do something about it ,it's your moiney they're stealing by sleeping when they should be working filling in the potholes.photos would be even better!.
i reported a trench on one of my routes home, they refused to fill it in because it was 1/8 of an inch too shallow. pathetic.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
There will be a tracker on the truck - so in attendance 'ahem' - wasn't their fault the temporary maintenance didn't last long........... happens (I just happened to work for the Utility business a year or so ago, we got stuffed by the lazy workers........)
 
BJB said:
Do you think I should do anything about it? What sort of tactics would you employ if you were to complain about it?
Ok. Your council should have a complaints procedure. I'd phone/e-mail the Highways dept first off. Give them precise time, location and date. Vehicle registration if you noted it. See what response you get. If that fails, deploy the complaints procedure.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
My local council is good at fixing pot holes- we have a 'pot hole moles' team.....email them and it get's fixed - that it does, as one big one was on a sharp corner on my route home after a training run - reported it...fixed within a couple of weeks, plus email confirmation that they would do it..whooo.
 
OP
OP
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Renard

Guest
I didn't have a camera with me at the time. I don't care so much about these guys skiving it is more how little resources are put into preserving the rural network of roads. The embarrassment factor might have been good way of bringing attention to the underlying problem. Especially when the council as an organisation put so much effort into crowing about how good they are. I just wish they concentrated on the basics.
 

Amanda P

Legendary Member
My local council is quite responsive about holes in the road. If I send an email describing a new hole, the highways surveyor is quite likely to ring up and chat about it.

I think this is mainly because he doesn't understand map references, so he's after a description of where the hole is of the "second left after the pub, it's 200 yards in the middle of the road type"

We had one of those chats the other day. He can't mend any more holes until April, because apparently North Yorkshire's run out of money for road repairs.
 

Dave5N

Über Member
Move.
 

Pete

Guest
I suppose I have a gripe of a similar nature: not about potholes but about debris. One of my most frequent lunchtime spins takes me along a very quiet and narrow country lane which crosses a fairly vigorous stream (feeder to the River Adur: often in spate). Anyway floods are quite frequent: can't do much about that. Post flood: the lane is strewn with mounds and ridges of loose gravel: hazardous for cycling and you have to pick away amongst it carefully. Only yesterday I was forced into quite a close shave with a jogger - couldn't move out to avoid him (I did slow down almost to a stop though). I suppose this gravel could be swept up if someone made a fuss about it, but must admit I haven't given it that much thought...
 
There's a site called fillthathole or something similar.

Councils have a duty to fill holes within a certain amount of time of being notified of them. After that they become liable for any damages, due to their negligence. Fillthathole notifies them officially and has had a good response.

Other than that, complain to your local councillor and MP about wasting council tax. CC your newspaper too, esp. as new council tax rises are soon to be announced.
 
U

User482

Guest
It almost certainly wasn't the council you saw, but the contractor they employ. You should still complain through the council though - they usually set up these contracts with penalty clauses for consistent poor service.
 

killiekosmos

Veteran
BJB,

Which road were you on? Is it in South Lanarkshire Council area? A few thoughts:

* might the repair team have been on a genuine lunch break? Lots of guys have a nap in the van.
* you can ask the council for details of complaints, reports inspections and repairs to potholes. Under Freedom of Information you'll get all this info.
* Councils inspect roads as per Scottish Government guidance. I think C - class roads get a check every 6 months.
* The more such faults get reported the quicker they get fixed. Councils don't want to get sued and you would have a better case if you could show they know about a hole and didn't fix it.

I suggest you contact the Council and ask for info about the road and repairs. Mention the guys having a kip in the van too.
 
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