Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester councils have been given record sums of extra money to fix potholes - the biggest government investment ever to tackle road surfacing.
But yet what I am seeing and hearing from residents is that roads are not being fixed.
The money is there. Last year £1.658 million was given to Cheshire East and £1.26 million to Cheshire West and the same amounts are being given again this month at the start of the new financial year.
That money should not be sat on.
When a constituent contacts my office regarding potholes, an email is sent to the respective council along with pictures to highlight the issue.
However, what I am increasingly being told – particularly by Labour-led Cheshire East Council – is that many of the potholes do not fit the criteria for repair.
That criteria was changed by the Labour administration when it took charge of the council in 2019.
I was previously advised that to meet the criteria for resurfacing and pothole repairs, the area must be 50mm deep.
This technicality immediately disregards many roads and areas that need repair. For example, if the tarmac which sits on top of the underlay is fairly thin, it could wear away in multiple places, creating multiple holes, but would never fit the criteria for repair.
This cannot be right. It is obvious the criterion for repair needs to be looked at. Later this week I am meeting with the new chief executive of Cheshire East Council Rob Polkinghorne and have asked him to come out with me to look at some of these potholes.
I will be making clear to him the council has been handed record sums of money, that money needs to be used and the criteria for repair changed.
Not only are potholes unsightly and cause damage to vehicles, they also pose a danger to pedestrians crossing the roads and bike users.
On one hand Cheshire East encourage residents to get out of the cars and onto bikes but yet on the other hand, they ignore the state of the very roads they want cyclists to use.
I am told by residents it is too dangerous to take their families out on bikes. The council cannot have it both ways.
Cheshire East wanted money for bike lanes and last week government announced it would give them nearly £700,000 for this – government is giving the council the cash – now the council need to play its part and get on with repairing the roads.
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