Thousands of potholes within Mid Ulster District Council yet to be repaired due to budget constraints, council told
Western Division Roads manager, Stephen Hughes has acknowledged that thousands of potholes within Mid Ulster District Council have yet to be fixed, due to budget constraints.
That admission was made in the course of an annual presentation to the local government authority at their October 22 monthly council meeting.
Councillor Trevor Wilson (UUP, Cookstown DEA) asked: “The number of defects recorded was 19,500. The total repaired within the specified times was 9,500. That’s 10,000 defects that haven’t been repaired within the specified times, which could then lead to public liability claims, of which there were 396.
“Is there any particular reason as to why the timescales aren’t being met?”
The Western Division Roads manager replied: “The position in terms of defect repairs would largely lie with our ability to get our contractors to respond.
“We have the internal contractor and then the external contractors. The internal contractor has been stretched and will continue to be stretched in terms of his ability to deliver for us.
“The general process is that we would select them first, but if they don’t do it then we have to get the external contractors, and it’s taking longer to get to them.
“We would prefer to see those figures a lot better, but unfortunately the resources we have at the moment mean we’re stretched.”
Mr Hughes went on to tell the meeting: “The number of repairs has a knock-on effect as well. There’s been significant underinvestment in roads over the last 15 years, so that has a knock-on effect in terms of the number of defects appearing and our ability to repair them.”
Councillor Wilson said he was pleased to note that some roads have been fully reinstated, and not just patched up.
He commented: “On the potholes issue, there has been good work in Cookstown and Lomond Heights. Sometimes it’s better to tar a whole section rather than just the potholes.
“The idea of people going out and beating material into holes and hitting them with a shovel is a waste of money, but that’s the way it is.”
François Vincent, Local Democracy Reporter