North East Hampshire MP, Ranil Jayawardena, has launched a new campaign to fix potholes in the local area, which present a real danger for road users.
The ‘Pothole Patrol’ calls for residents to report potholes, so this information can be passed to Hampshire County Council and Hampshire Highways. Mr Jayawardena pledges to follow up on reports to make sure that they get fixed as quickly as possible.
The government has given £500 million to local authorities to maintain roads, with an extra £132 million pledged over the next 10 years – the equivalent of 10 million potholes fixed across the country. Of this, Hampshire County Council’s (HCC) pothole funding for 2023 to 2026 is £22.5 million - and so Mr Jayawardena is calling for North East Hampshire to see its fair share of that investment.
Ranil Jayawardena MP said, “Whoever you are, I want to help you get where you want to go. I have had letters from residents who have sadly had hundreds of pounds worth of damage to their cars, and they want to see more done to fix our roads.
When identified, HCC are usually good at fixing them. They can only fix the potholes about which they’re informed though, so that’s why local residents and I have formed ‘Pothole Patrol’. Reporting potholes helps HCC to find and provide much needed repairs to our roads and, together, we can bring additional manpower to report potholes across our community and, as your Member of Parliament, I am happy to deploy my ‘power to pester’. I can push for action and answers on your behalf, should timely repairs not be made.
- When you see a pothole, report it to the Council at: bit.ly/roadrepairs
- Let me know the reference number below
- I will chase up with the Council to make sure that it’s fixed as quickly as possible.
As ever, though, if you see a highway issue that needs urgent attention, please do phone Hampshire County Council on 0300 555 1388 (8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday), or outside of office hours, phone 101 (for emergencies only). If there is an imminent danger, always call 999.
In the meantime, you may wish to contact your county councillor, who is able to present residents’ cases and speak at council meetings, directly also – if you have not already done so – via: democracy.hants.gov.uk/mgFindMember.aspx
Working together, we can be a driving force to make sure that our roads here in North East Hampshire get their fair share of the large pot of money that the council has allocated to fixing potholes – so we can make sure that drivers, and their tyres, are not left deflated.
Join the ‘Pothole Patrol’ today by filling out the form with your reference, to make North East Hampshire’s roads safer."