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The best pothole-fixing council in the UK has been named following a nationwide competition between the nation’s 217 highways authorities.
CTC teamed up with construction company Aggregate Industries to run an award scheme to measure the road maintenance performance of the UK’s highways authorities.
From Shetland to Cornwall, and Fermanagh to Norfolk, the general public put potholes on the map at CTC’s fillthathole website and waited to see how quickly – and how well – their highway authority filled them. They were then asked to rate their authority on the overall condition of the roads, with the best councils receiving five stars, the worst getting just one.
The competition winners were announced on today at the Annual Surveyor Conference at the Walkers Stadium in Leicester. Cheshire West and Chester Council won the award for the highest percentage of potholes fixed, repairing all 47 of the road defects reported via fillthathole during the competition.
Newham, West Lothian, Brent, Redbridge and Luton also scored 100 percent. The People’s Vote award went to the London Borough of Brent. Cheshire West and Chester appeared again as a runner up in this category, along with Bath and North East Somerset Council and Bristol City Council.
Mike Archer from Aggregate Industries said: “Local authorities are under immense pressure regarding road maintenance and we think it is only right to recognise the work they are doing to respond to these problems and ensure our roads are safe. Our awards scheme encouraged local authorities to not only address pothole problems quickly and effectively but also to let the public know how well they are doing. In the battle between fixing potholes and managing the requirement for more effective long term road maintenance, communication with the public is critical.”
Roger Geffen, campaigns and policy director at CTC, said: “The public is very keen to see improved road maintenance standards, and this is particularly true for cyclists, as good surfaces are hugely important for their safety. With Fill That Hole making it easy for road users to report road defects, people are discovering that many councils are good at fixing them quickly once they know about them.”
During the competition, the public reported 11,200 potholes to fillthathole, some of them via the CTC’s free geo-aware picture-taking and reporting iPhone app.
