Stafford Borough councillors declare roads emergency

Staffordshire is facing a “roads emergency” because of the “worryingly poor state of repair” of the county’s highways, Stafford councillors have said.

A pothole led to a cyclist breaking his shoulder, while other residents are avoiding driving their vehicles for fear of damaging them or injuring themselves on Stafford Borough roads, community leaders heard this week.

Members of Stafford Borough Council backed the formal declaration of a roads emergency in the county at their full meeting on Tuesday. They also supported calls for Staffordshire County Council, the area’s highways authority, to provide a plan of action to tackle the issues, as well as urging the Government to provide additional funding to councils to clear the repair backlog.

Councillor Scott Spencer, who presented the motion alongside Green Party colleague Jack Rose, said on Tuesday:

“I ride a motorcycle and I also cycle with my two young girls. Both of these activities are dangerous at the best of times, but the conditions of our roads make it very nerve-racking as a parent.

“I’m even told by some residents that they fear driving, cycling or even walking and in some cases no longer opt to drive due to potential damage or injury to themselves or their vehicles.

“On his way to the station last year, my friend who lives in Stafford, commutes to Birmingham and cycles to the station hit a pothole and broke his shoulder. He then claimed against the county council and got £6,000.

“My partner was also recently driving along, burst her tyre on a pothole and again claimed against the county council. This is just my experience – how many other people are also making these claims and how much money is being lost that could be spent on roads or other areas within the borough?”

The pair also hit out at the quality of pothole and road repairs being carried out. They called for more frequent quality control inspections by the county council and the imposition of financial penalties for inadequate work.

But Conservative opposition group leader Jeremy Pert, who is also a member of the county council, highlighted the challenging weather conditions experienced earlier this year as well as extra investment in road repairs being made by the highway authority. He said:

“We’ve just come through the wettest winter in the last 130 years and the problem with the weather wasn’t that it was cold, but the dampness and rain fundamentally undermined the quality of the road network that we have not just within Stafford Borough but the county.

“To me it’s not what you deal with, but it’s how you respond to it. Back in May the county council put an extra £8m into fixing the county’s roads; they currently put £42m into operational repairs and £83m into capital schemes.

“We’ve seen £5.6m spent across six schemes in Stafford Borough (including) Radford Bank, Weeping Cross, Gaol Square and Newcastle Road in Cotes Heath. But the bit I think is really impressive is the 191 locations where over £5m has been spent doing patching and repair work.

“With the £8m spend, those teams were mobilised by the end of July across the county and we’ve seen the benefit of those. My concern is some of this motion is backwards looking and relates to something that has been a problem the county (council) which is the highways authority, has dealt with and done.”