Council makes commitment to 90-day fix on potholes

A highways authority has given a commitment to fix "low to medium" grade potholes within 90 days of any that are reported.

Reform UK-led Essex County Council said it would repair the defects within the timeframe if reported from October, after it declared a pothole emergency this year.

Mark Webster, Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure, said they "inherited" almost 140,000 unrepaired, low grade road defects, known as D3 potholes, from the previous Conservative administration, which the party ousted in the May local elections.

"None of the current D3 defects have a defined repair date and that is not good enough," he said.

A D3 pothole is classified as a "low-priority or medium-risk road defect" according to the council, which grades them itself.

Webster identified the defect as something that had a radius of about 100mm (four inches) and a depth of 50mm (two inches).

"When a D3 defect is identified, it will have a clearly defined 90-day repair timescale," he said.

"High-risk defects like D1 and D2 will continue to be dealt with more quickly.

"We can deliver this within the existing highways maintenance budget, so this is not about spending more money, it is about using taxpayer money more effectively."

Webster added that they would give a 90-day timeline to fix the backlog of low grade-type potholes that already existed from the point they were next inspected and identified.

However, he expected this inspection to take "12 months".

Conservative councillor Lee Scott, who held the same cabinet portfolio three years ago, said he would "wait and see" if the commitment by the new administration would work.

"I know the difficulties involved in doing some of this, but if they say they are going to fix them in 90 days, I will take them at their word," he said.

The pledge contributes to the council's 100 Day Plan for Essex.

It was agreed as part of the council's revised Highways Maintenance and Inspections Strategies at its cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

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