Pothole repairs were under the spotlight in a question at the recent full council meeting of Wokingham borough council.
Cllr Rohit Ahlawat asked Cllr Adrian Betteridge, the executive councillor for Active Travel, Transport and Highways: “Local residents regularly report potholes on the council’s online portal, often with photographs.
“Contractors attend site and repair only the specific potholes shown in the submitted images, leaving other clearly visible defects on the same stretch of road untouched.
“Residents reasonably assume that when a contractor visits, the condition of the surrounding carriageway will be assessed and other safety-related potholes addressed at the same time.
“Instead, residents are asked to submit further reports, resulting in additional call-outs, delays, and repeated disruption.
“Can the executive member explain why contractors are not required to undertake a wider inspection of the affected road when attending a reported pothole, and whether the administration will review this approach to ensure better value for money, improved road safety, and a reduced administrative burden on residents?
Cllr Betteridge replied, and said: “Improving road safety, value for money and reducing burden on residents is obviously important to us.
“The processes of inspecting a road and determining whether a repair is required, and the process of effecting that repair are different skill sets undertaken by different people.
“The approach to pothole repairs is based on the risk they cause and aligned with the council’s statutory duty to maintain the highway in a safe condition.
“When a defect is reported, it is inspected and categorised according to our maintenance policy.
“Safety-critical defects meeting our repair thresholds are prioritised for repair within specified timescales, with the most serious being within two hours of inspection.
“Contractors are instructed to address the reported defect that has been assessed and recorded through our system. This ensures clear accountability, auditable decision-making, and consistent application of our policy across the network. It also enables us to manage resources effectively across the range of demands we face.
“Resident reports are an important and essential part of identifying issues. However, our highway inspection programme, which you can read on the council’s website, also identifies issues requiring repair, and these are batched together where appropriate.
“It is not the role of repair teams to undertake wider inspections. However, contractors are not prevented from reporting or addressing additional defects they encounter.
“Where further safety-critical issues are identified onsite, these can be made safe or reported for prompt follow-up action.
“We regularly reinforce this expectation through our contract management activity.
“We do recognise residents’ expectations to address wider issues during visits. Policy and site circumstances can dictate what repairs will be undertaken together and not every case will be the same, it is always a balance. Less serious defects may not require immediate attention but will be monitored through our ongoing inspection process.
“Through joint working under the Highways Alliance, our teams regularly review this issue, and we will always seek improved outcomes for residents wherever possible to reduce or avoid extra reporting or extra visits.
Cllr Ahlawat, in his supplementary question, said: “Residents in my ward are particularly unhappy with Chilcombe Way.
“The contractor came to repair the potholes that were reported and ignored others.
“You originally said that the council needs residents’ help in identifying potholes and encouraged people to report them. My residents are disappointed that they reported potholes and only part of the road was fixed.
“At a time when the council should be making efficiencies this attitude to value for money for taxpayers is part of a wider problem.
“Do you agree with me that a piecemeal approach is not cost effective and a waste of time, including for my residents who now need to make another report?”
Cllr Betteridge said: “I do not agree with you that the council is not pursuing a value for money approach here.
“Stopping potholes through our surface dressing and other resurfacing activity is the best way to do this. However, we need to repair the potholes that create a safety issue.
“Sadly, our budgets do not allow us to attend to less serious issues.
“If you have concerns about individual potholes that you believe represent a safety issue, please do report these yourselves, please do encourage residents to report them, and if you are not satisfied with the answer, you are always able to escalate these issues to me.”
