Cheltenham roads face pothole epidemic

11.18.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 22nd Apr 2009

No cash to fix our potholed roads

Conservative County Council fails to impress. The state of our roads and pavements has got steadily worse since the Conservatives handed responsibility to Gloucestershire Highways two years ago. And things could get worse still.

The local press recently reported that the County Council had run out of money for highways repairs following the bad winter weather. A Gloucestershire Highways boss had to admit that repairs to residential roads could be delayed for months while they concentrate on repairing main roads.

Meanwhile, Cheltenham will see roads spending plummet in the coming year. The Shire Hall Tories have cut the budget for road schemes and repairs in Cheltenham from £1.74 million in 2008/9 to £938k in 2009/10 - a reduction of well over £800k.

Time for action

Your Lib Dem team will continue to work as hard as we can to get long-overdue repairs carried out. But only continuous pressure will force the Tory County Council to carry out all the other work that is needed. We all need to bombard them with our complaints, otherwise our area is destined to become "the land of a thousand potholes".

If you have a problem with roads, lights, pavements or trees, contact Gloucestershire Highways on 08000 514 514 or highways@gloucestershire.gov.uk and make sure you get a complaint number.