Wiltshire: Potholes on rural roads leave residents cut off

Potholed rural roads in south Wiltshire are so "appalling" residents claim it is like "living in the third world".

Villagers in Donhead St Andrew and Donhead St Mary say deep holes in some roads have made them inaccessible.

Councillor Richard Budden, said: "You can't get in or out of these villages without risking damage to your car."

Wiltshire Council leader Richard Clewer, said it is investing heavily over the next two years "to get on top of the pothole issue".

The Donhead villages are rural communities accessed by unnumbered roads, lanes and C roads.

But local resident Caroline Nesbitt, said the local roads are so bad it is like "living in the third world".

"Getting from A to B is getting harder and harder," she said.

"I have to negotiate potholes wherever I go. Some roads are no longer accessible. It's a nightmare."

Over the weekend, she said her neighbour had "gone down a pothole" and the "wheel had as good as come off their car".

"It's not a pothole around the corner, its a crater," she added.

Councillor Richard Budden, for Tisbury and the Donheads, said it is "not just potholes" - in some places the whole road has subsided.

"The roads now, after a number of years of neglect, are becoming totally broken down," he said.

"[For] stretches of road - frankly you need a tractor."

He said Wiltshire Council has "prioritised the maintenance of A roads and B roads" and "neglected" the unnumbered and C roads.

"The residents of these two villages depend on unnumbered roads and C roads to go about their daily lives," he said.

"There are few things that affect more people, more immediately than broken-down roads."

Wiltshire Council leader Richard Clewer, admitted there were "issues" on smaller rural roads but said recent heavy rain and freezing conditions "really takes it out of roads".

"We've got the reactive patching teams going out, putting cold fill in to make them safe" he said.

"So when this cold weather ends - March, April - we can go out and start doing permanent repair and patches properly."

He said the authority will be "investing heavily" in road maintenance over the next two years.

"We're putting in £10m of our own money to get on top of the pothole issue," he said.

"More importantly, preventing those potholes occurring - which will mean that maintenance money will go even further."

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