Report calling for fresh approach to potholes in East Sussex ‘asking for repair work to be done without any criteria’

Potholes in East SussexPotholes in East Sussex
Potholes in East Sussex
A report calling for a fresh approach to fixing pothole in East Sussex is asking for the authority to ‘make repairs without any criteria’, the cabinet member responsible has suggested.

On Tuesday (April 23), East Sussex County Council’s cabinet met to discuss a report from a scrutiny review board tasked with looking at how the authority runs its programme of road repairs.

During the meeting, cabinet members shared their views on the recommendations within the report, which is expected to go forward to full council next month.

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Introducing the report, review board member Barry Taylor (Con. – Eastbourne, Meads) said: “The review recognises the council’s increasingly difficult financial position, however the issues under consideration are important to the wellbeing of residents and the economy of East Sussex.

“Overall, the review finds the council’s arrangements for road repairs are robust and there is a commitment to continuously improve the approach to highway maintenance.

“However the committee considers there are some opportunities for improvement, which is outlined in the report.”

In its report, the review board put forward 11 recommendations to the council on a range of highways issues – including the monitoring and repairing of the county’s pavements.

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The recommendations also included a call to set up a pilot scheme where all potholes in an area are repaired at the same time – rather than on a case-by-case basis.

Currently, the council takes a ‘reactive’ approach to its road repairs, where a pothole must be a certain depth before any work takes place.

The pilot scheme would see some of these neighbouring potholes repaired at the same time, even if they did not meet the standards of severity.

However the report also called on the council to improve how it speaks with residents about the way it runs its road repairs, with a particular emphasis on how the current approach saves money.

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While the overall report was welcomed by cabinet members, some concerns were raised about some of its individual recommendations in a commentary by the council’s director for communities, economy and transport.

In his report, the director highlighted how the council was facing significant funding pressures, making it difficult to find additional funding for repair works.

He also wrote that the pilot scheme could prove more costly – saying a move away from the current scheme could see the council lose Government funding and put it at risk of losing a legal defence against compensation claims.

Several opposition councillors, however, raised their own concerns with the director’s conclusions.

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David Tutt, leader of the council’s Liberal Democrat group, said: “The recommendations made demonstrate the scrutiny review members really got under the surface and understood the issues. The recommendations they have made are very sound recommendations.

“One or two, I thought, were a little bit timid in what they were asking for. I personally would have been slightly more robust in the request I was making to cabinet, but they are perhaps more polite than I am.  

“The concern that I have is the response [from officers]. I do understand the reasons for some of those responses but many of the recommendations appear to have been batted away.

“I feel that, despite the issues being raised and highlighted, very little or anything will be done in some of those areas.”

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