MP criticises council's pothole repair practice

An MP has complained in parliament about "ridiculous" and "wasteful" practices being used by East Sussex County Council to fix potholes.

Josh Babarinde, who represents Eastbourne, called on the secretary of state to urge the county council to better use its share of £279m of government funding to tackle the issue.

Speaking in the House of Commons, the Liberal Democrat highlighted specific potholes in Silverdale Road, Rodmill Drive and Quebec Close in the town.

The council said repairing all potholes regardless of whether they were an immediate safety issue or not would require more resource than was available to the authority.

Babarinde also called for a stop to the "ridiculous" practice of only filling one pothole at a time when it is next to another.

"It's a wasteful practice," he said.

The Liberal Democrat added: "Potholes litter our roads in Eastbourne after years of neglect by the Conservative county council."

In December, it was announced that councils across the south-east of England were to receive £297m to repair their roads.

In response to Babarinde's speech, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said local transport authorities should use the funding to provide "excellent value for money for the taxpayer".

"The situation he describes does concern me," she said.

"We have waited a long time for this level of investment to come forward, and I'm very, very keen to see local authorities, such as his, cracking on with the job."

East Sussex County Council said it had spent £105m on highway maintenance since 2020/21 following an increase in potholes due to severe weather, despite government funding of only £60m.

"We prioritise repairs to ensure that the potholes presenting the greatest risk are repaired as quickly as possible," a spokesperson said.

"To repair every pothole on our network of 2,000 miles of roads, regardless of whether it meets our intervention levels, would cost about four times our current spend and place an even greater burden on council taxpayers."

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