Inadequate funding from central government has been blamed for a rise in the number of claims for vehicle damage from potholes made against Wokingham Borough Council.
Wokingham Borough Council’s Conservative group have said the number of motorists making claims against the Council for pothole damage have snowballed under Liberal Democrat leadership.
It said the council’s own figures show that since 2021, claims for pothole damage to cars have increased by 500% from just 24 to 144 in 2023.
It claimed that last year, the Liberal Democrats cut the road repair budget in real terms, whereas the Conservatives increased the road repair budget for the last three years they were in office, from about £2 million to £6 million per annum.
In a statement, the Conservative group said: “In January 2023, the liberal democrats admitted reducing spending on fixing potholes in their own revenue monitoring report.
“In March, the Government gave Wokingham Borough an additional £589,200 to help maintain local roads.
“In November, it was announced that Wokingham Borough will receive over £13 million of additional funding from the conservative government over the next 11 years for road repairs.”
Cllr Charles Margetts said: “The sheer increase in the numbers of these claims from just 24 in 2021 to 144 in 2023 illustrates what anyone driving around the borough will already know.
“Potholes have increased under the Liberal Democrats.
“This could be extremely serious if someone were to have an accident as a result of such poorly maintained roads.
“We have seen a number of anti-car policies from the Liberal Democrats, and they have openly said they want to reduce “inappropriate journeys”.
“However, potholes are particularly hazardous to cyclists and pedestrians.
“This demonstrates the disconnect between Liberal Democrat rhetoric and action.
“They talk about wanting residents to walk and cycle but they don’t do what is needed.
“Fixing potholes is a priority for residents.
“The Liberal Democrats have cut the road maintenance budget in real terms. We tried to get the Liberal Democrats to boost the repairs budget last year, but we were ignored.
“The previous Conservative administration had an excellent record on road repairs.
“Wokingham residents are not getting value money under the Liberal Democrats.”
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, leader of the Conservative Group, added: “More and more residents are getting in touch with me, asking for my help on getting potholes fixed.
“They know that I was executive member for highways under the previous Conservative administration, and are hoping there’s something I can do.
“Sadly, under the Liberal Democrats, all we’ve seen is poor quality repairs and a lack of investment in maintaining Wokingham Borough’s roads. Local people are fed up.
“If elected in May, a Conservative administration would properly fund the road repairs service.”
A spokesperson for Wokingham Borough Council confirmed the differences in the number of claims per year is caused by the impact of the weather on our road network, and a lack of funding from central government.
Cllr Paul Fishwick, executive member for active travel, transport and highways: said: “Our residents’ safety is our number one priority and we continually check the condition of our roads, using technical surveys and visual inspections by trained staff, as well as technical assessments and analysis.
“Potholes, and inadequate funding from the government to fix them, is a national problem, estimated by the annual ALARM surveyto have reached a shortfall of £14 billion for England and Wales in March 2023.
“We received £589,200 last year from the Department for Transport, allocated through the government’s budget in February 2023.
“This was made available to councils to support their work following the severe impacts in late 2022 and early 2023, caused by adverse cold and wet weather conditions during that period.
“December 2022 saw severe cold periods and was followed by the wettest half of the month since December 2013.
“Flood alerts were issued for local rivers, and we experienced short periods of freezing days.
“The very cold temperatures at a time when the ground was very wet had a huge impact on our road network.
“January 2023 had the wettest first half of the month in 102 years, and March 2023 saw extreme record breaking wet weather (+301% of normal) and highest daily totals of rainfall in 102 years.
“It is difficult to pinpoint all the contributing factors that led to the increase in claims in 2023, but prolonged periods of wet weather together with cold periods cause considerable damage to road surfaces.
“When you take that together with a lack of adequate funding from central government, it is not difficult to see why more claims were submitted last year.”
