Potholes are more than just an eyesore and a symbol of decline. They are dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists, can cause unnecessary damage to vehicles, and create real costs and inconvenience for working people.
Councils have been in an impossible position for a long time. Funding has not kept pace with the scale of the highways maintenance challenge, while the condition of our roads has deteriorated and the backlog of repairs has grown. That is a problem all of us see and feel as we go about our daily lives across the borough.
So it is great to see road maintenance being prioritised, with £60 million being invested across Greater Manchester by Mayor Bev Craig, of which Oldham will receive £5.2 million.
This adds to Oldham Council’s £18 million highways budget, alongside its £2 million accelerator programme. That additional investment is designed to tackle areas where repeated smaller patch repairs on the same section of road are no longer enough, allowing a more substantial repair to be carried out instead of the constant cycle of ad hoc filling that frustrates local residents who simply want a proper repair that lasts.
And we must not forget the condition of our pavements. In some places, they have become hazardous because of deterioration, a lack of proper maintenance and the impact of repeated utility works. For older people in particular, uneven or damaged pavements can create serious trip and fall hazards, with consequences that can be far more serious than simply an inconvenience.
We need to make sure this investment delivers the lasting improvements residents rightly expect: better roads, safer pavements and repairs that fix the problem rather than simply patching for the repair to fail and then the pothole return.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 