This is a shocking stat (i):
When I was Haslemere’s Surrey County Councillor (2013-2017), I did not only fall back on the online reporting system and wait for potholes to be repaired. Rather, I worked with the highways team to negotiate funds for proper road repairs especially where the potholes were potholes on potholes. I also did regular cycle tours of the town to report potholes.
Here are a few examples of how my intervention helped directly with road repairs:
Funding from Waverley Local Area Committee was found to repair the following roads (ii)
• Sturt Road – £22,900 (including drainage repairs under the railway bridge)
• Lower Street at the junction with Sandrock – £23,367
• Kings Road near the entrance to The Herons leisure centre – £19,730; and
• High Lane – £14,217.
I arranged a full repair of a potholed section of College Hill (iii)
I arranged a full repair of the road outside St Bartholomew’s School. This road was unadopted but I felt it was important to repair the road – it was in a state of poor repair and it fronted a local authority school. I had discovered that the then Leader of the Surrey County Council had enabled a road repair in his constituency outside a state school and I used this as a precedent in my negotiation.
Following extensive discussions with SCC highways Wey Hill was fully resurfaced. It was surprising to discover that Wey Hill was not included in the major Project Horizon road repair program. I worked with the Surrey County Council Highways team who agreed that the extremely poor condition of the road warranted a full repair. (iv)
If elected again, I will continue to do road surveys with SCC Highways and I will do my best to be innovative about getting potholes repairs.
