Phantom pothole filler who took law into own hands is hunted by …
A phantom pothole[1] filler who took the law into their own hands by carrying out DIY road repair is being hunted by Highway chiefs.
The work was carried out by a mystery volunteer in Lostwithiel, Cornwall, who decided to patch up a road which has been closed since the beginning of April.
But now Cornwall Highways have said that it was done without “consent” and the road would be closed again while they want help from the public in finding the culprit, Cornwall Live[2] reports.
The top of Tanhouse Road/Bodmin Hill had been temporarily reopened unofficially after repairs had been carried out on a large hole.
And Cornwall Council[3]‘s roads repair company Cormac closed the road again and doesn’t intend properly repairing it until they’ve caught up with a backlog of pothole repairs across the county.
Large pothole turned into rubber duck ‘pond’ by angry locals in ‘nightmare’ road[4]
Cornwall councillor Colin Martin by the pothole which has closed the road in Lostwithiel
Colin Martin, Cornwall councillor for Lostwithiel and Lanreath, visited the road, which is now due to remain closed until June 9, and said: “The latest is that the road has been closed again and will remain closed until it is ‘properly’ repaired by Cormac, but they say this could be weeks away as all available teams have been diverted to filling smaller potholes on roads which are still open.
“Over the past two years, the Conservatives running Cornwall Council have cut the budget for road resurfacing and proactive maintenance.
“As a result of this short-sighted decision, potholes are now appearing across Cornwall faster than Cormac can fill them in.
“The Government has now provided extra funding to tackle the backlog, but there’s only so much work each person can do in a day, so bigger jobs like this one in Lostwithiel are being put onto an ever-growing waiting list.
“The overall result is that taxes remain high, no real savings are made, and the state of our roads has never been worse.”
Cllr Martin added that the Lostwithiel pothole was “a perfect metaphor for the way that the entire public sector is crumbling due to underinvestment”.
In correspondence concerning the unofficial “repair”, a manager with Cornwall Highways said: “Any work carried over the weekend was not carried out by our team at Cornwall Highways, and therefore we assume that works carried out to the highway surface, and any removal of the road closure signs and associated temporary infrastructure was done so by persons unknown, without consent.
“If information regarding who carried out the works becomes known in the community, I would be grateful if details could be shared.
“The road closure signs have been put back in place since being made aware of the situation, and arrangements will be made for the rest of the traffic management to be put back in place.
“At the present time, we have a significant backlog of pothole defects across the network and our resource is allocated to this as a priority over other planned works.
“The work at Tanhouse Road will be scheduled when the situation eases.”
Speaking at a Cornwall Council cabinet meeting Connor Donnithorne, portfolio holder for transport, said the council had received an additional £5m from the Government towards its “pothole fund” adding to a £12m spend on mending potholes and other road repairs in Cornwall each year.