It is clear from my inbox that we are at the height of ‘pothole season’ at the moment. The tyre-crunching ability of potholes to catch drivers out is uncanny, so please do all you can to drive with care. Having had to replace a tyre following a run in with metal debris on the M25 in December, I know how inconvenient it can be to have to replace a tyre in the wet and the cold. (But great thanks to Tyresavers of Stanford Rivers for their excellent service and assistance.)
The narrowness of many of our country roads between Ongar and its surrounding villages can make pothole avoidance almost impossible. If you are able to safely take a photograph of any particularly bad holes and report them to Essex County Council, which is responsible for the maintenance and repair of our local roads, please do.
In terms of funding pothole repairs, the Government had already assigned more than £5 billion in highways maintenance investment over the course of this Parliament with £2.7 billion invested in the maintenance of England’s local highway network outside London in 2020-21 and 2021-22 alone. At the 2023 Budget, the Chancellor announced an additional £200 million for local authorities to repair potholes. After the cancellation of Phase 2 of HS2 a record investment of £8.3 billion to fix the blight of potholes was announced using some of that money.
Reporting a pothole can now be done through GOV.UK which can link you to your local authority's designated page for the recording of potholes. This function can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/report-pothole
Thank you for your assistance in getting these potholes reported - I know Essex County Council will do their best to fix them in a timely fashion (and I will continue to encourage them to do so in conjunction with your Essex County Councillor, Jaymey McIvor).
