'Pig's ear' Hucknall road repair damaging to county council's reputation, admits senior councillor

A leading councillor has admitted the state of Nottinghamshire’s roads is a major ‘reputation risk’ to the county council after describing a recent road repair job as ‘unacceptable’.
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Coun Neil Clarke (Con), chairman of the authority’s transport and environment committee, made the remarks after being questioned on the repair work conducted on Brookside in Hucknall, earlier this month.

The repair was described by Hucknall councillor Lee Waters (Ash Ind) as a ‘pig’s ear’ after subcontractors visited the road for emergency repair work and ‘chucked some Viafix into a few holes and drove off’.

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The county council has come under fire from a Hucknall councillor after it's poor repair job on Brookside in the townThe county council has come under fire from a Hucknall councillor after it's poor repair job on Brookside in the town
The county council has come under fire from a Hucknall councillor after it's poor repair job on Brookside in the town

Viafix, a form of cold asphalt repair which fills in specific holes on a temporary basis, is likely to be on its way out under the county council’s new highways review.

The authority is due to move towards more permanent solutions and offering full road replacement schemes, rather than temporary pothole repairs.

When quizzed on the Brookside job by Coun Waters, who represents Hucknall South, the committee chairman admitted the repair wasn’t good enough.

Speaking at a full council meeting, Coun Clarke said: “The emergency repair work carried out was not acceptable.

“The work carried out by a subcontractor was unsatisfactory, even as a temporary measure, and they undertook to re-do the work at their own expense.

“The county council recently carried out a highways review where we would focus on local estate roads in a particularly poor condition.

“Brookside is scheduled in this forthcoming year for the further work to be carried out, so the end result will be far more satisfactory for road users and residents.

“The condition of our roads and pavements is indeed a reputational risk to this council, and that’s why we’re working a lot harder to address it.”

But he said there was a large backlog of road repairs which ‘will take a long time to put right’.

In response, Coun Waters said: “I thank Coun Clarke for acknowledging the problems on Brookside and I welcome the fact it will be revisited.

"The job on Brookside is common in Nottinghamshire and it’s not good enough.”

The council has been criticised in the past for the state of the county’s roads, with figures showing more than 476,000 repairs were conducted in the past five years.

The issue was described by councillors as the ‘biggest issue on the doorsteps’ in last May’s elections, with the cross-party highways panel launched as one of the first actions by the current Conservative administration.

The panel brought in independent consultant WSP and sought a review from the Local Government Association to look at how it currently operates and find ways to improve.

It also spoke with other councils to see how they work and whether any methods could be used.

The authority was recommended to focus on longer-term, full road resurfacing schemes and to limit the use of Viafix to emergencies – recommendations approved by councillors in the autumn.

The council will also shift from a one-year to a three-year programme of repair plans, which it says would give residents ‘certainty’ over when their roads will be repaired.

And in November, Coun Clarke said the council will work with utility companies – which regularly conduct gas or waterpipe works – to ensure work is done to a high standard and roads are ‘reinstated in a good condition’.