Apparently West Sussex County Council has 9,340 outstanding pot holes to be repaired, that still seems somewhat low given the state of some roads in Burgess Hill, but no doubt the situation improves as you approach County Hall in Chichester!  We had the same situation last winter when many of pot holes were already evident. 

We’ll lucky in Burgess Hill to have the Town Council maintenance team who can do patch repairs where pot holes cause a potential hazard – particularly appreciated where some holes around Wivelsfield Station, for example, have in some cases been repaired the same day reported, after posing a danger to road users and drenching pedestrians who happened to walk by at the wrong moment.  Contact the staff at Burgess Hill Help Point on 247726 to report a pothole problem.

The County Times recently even led with an editorial headlined “Government must step in” which conjured images of Gordon Brown manning the work gang.  This image is supplemented by the Conservative “Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport” who wrote in this week’s Middy headlined “Pothole patrols are working” – which translates as we’ve looking at the potholes but not achieving much, where is the planning and strategy?

Apparently the pot holes are “the result of the extreme winter weather we have suffered in the last couple of months” – where has he been living, yes the bad weather has made the situation worse but most of these potholes were already evident at the start of winter.

Recently Leylands Road thankfully received the services of one of the “paving machines” advertised by the County Council, however this ignored the fact that almost any of the side roads off the road need similar attention.  It is not just a question of pot holes any more but the whole road surface that needs replacing. 

We need a planned programme of maintenance that covers all roads rather than splashing out on grandiose new highway schemes.   Yes the council should be pressing the case for more government money – but it is unlikely to get it whichever party is in power. 

Get in touch to share your experience of pothole problems and to update on the situation in your road.