Residents have been waiting six weeks for work to repair potholes on a well-used Colne Valley street.
John McCallum, who lives at intake, Golcar, contacted Kirklees Council in early April asking for workers to repair the potholes on a 100-yard stretch of the road between Leymoor Road and Green Crescent.
He has followed up with phone calls to the council’s “potholes hotline” and has been told the matter is being given priority – but six weeks after first alerting the council to the issue and also contacting his local councillors, the road remains pitted with potholes.
Mr McCallum, 57, an educational consultant, said: “The road has not been great for a number of years, but this winter has really taken a toll and it is disintegrating.
“The potholes are only a couple of inches deep, but you can see the hardcore of the original roadway, so it is a poorly-made road in any case. There are stones which get thrown up. At night, when everyone is parked outside their houses, you cannot avoid driving through them.”
Mr McCallum said he first reported the potholes on April 3 in a phone call to Kirklees. He has followed up with several phone calls since. “Each week I ring up and they say it’s going to be a priority, but it has been six weeks now and nothing has been done.”
The road bears signs of previous pothole repairs. Said Mr McCallum: “They came about 12 months ago and patched part of the road, but these potholes weren’t there then and they have just grown.”
An email from Kirklees Highways to Mr McCallum on April 4 commented how the council had a statutory duty to look after roads and pavements that are maintainable at public expense, adding that these roads and pavements were inspected by highway engineers monthly, quarterly or once a year depending on how much they are used.
It said repairs may be carried out within 24 hours if urgent or within eight weeks if not so urgent, adding: “We also have a rolling planned maintenance programme for work such as road resurfacing and footway improvement works.”
The email said: “With limited budgets, the service cannot carry out inspections in response to individual requests, but our routine inspections will pick up any problems and we will act as appropriate.
“Inevitably, there will be times when an urgent defect appears between inspections and the defect requires immediate repair, please ring 01484 414700 and an engineer will visit the location as a matter of urgency.”
After the Examiner raised the issue Mr McCallum has been told the potholes will be filled next week.
