Dossier of shame by village full of potholes
VILLAGERS driven to distraction by the hazardous craters and potholes that blight their roads took the situation into their own hands.
They produced a 12-page dossier, called Parish Potholes, which they hope will shame the county council into urgent action.
There are pictures of all 31 potholes, flooded drains and other dangerous surfaces which they claim have been ignored.
Angry parish councillor David Patten cycled around North Curry, near Taunton, Somerset, to take close-up photographs of all its crumbling roads. He has sent his damning evidence to the county council’s highways department in the hope that it will make officials “sit up and take notice”.
Mr Patten said: “The state of the roads in our village is simply not up to standard and it has now reached the point were we are no longer prepared to accept excuses.
“We all pay our council tax and it is not unreasonable to demand that our roads are kept to an acceptable standard for motorists and cyclists.
“That has not been the case and there are too many roads that have hazards and this document highlights them all, which will hopefully force the council into fixing the problem for good.”
Residents began making the dossier three months ago after years of deteriorating conditions.
It coincides with the Daily Express Let’s Get Britain Moving crusade, which is demanding widespread improvements of our roads.
Thousands of our readers are supporting the crusade, which is highlighting years of neglect of our road network under Labour.
The North Curry residents claim that Somerset County Council has ignored their concerns for years, or that repairs that have been carried out have been shoddy.
The dossier was printed off and bound this week, then submitted to the council.
Brian Dix, chairman of North Curry Parish Council, said: “Hopefully this will make the council take notice because too many of our roads are in a terrible state.
“The evidence will persuade the authority to provide a long-term solution to problems caused by inadequate and ineffective maintenance,” he added.
Somerset County Council confirmed it had received the report, and promised to check the allegations.
A spokesman said: “We have has been in communication with North Curry Parish Council and have addressed many of the issues raised.
“We will be continuing to check and monitor the condition of the network in North Curry as we do with more than 300 parishes across the county.”