'Medway’s Roads are at Breaking Point, with 9 times more potholes reported' - say local Liberal Democrats

Any Medway resident knows how bad our roads have gotten over the last few years, with car journeys becoming a dangerous and expensive process, as people have to swerve around deep potholes or risk costly wheel repair bills.

However, Medway Council's own data on how many potholes have been reported has shown just how dramatic their increase has been over the few years. In January 2023 Medway Council had 1097 reported potholes, whilst in January 2022 they only had 123. That's nearly an 800% increase, and shows how Medway's roads have deteriorated over the last few years' underfunding by Medway Council.

Medway Council have claimed that this unpresented number of potholes is due to extreme weather conditions, but if you go back to January 2021 there was only 292 reported potholes even though the average temperature for that month was two degrees lower than this January.

Medway Council have also been very vocal on how many potholes they have repaired this winter, with their data showing that they have repaired 2428 potholes in January. We are pleased to see this flurry of action, yet their data doesn't tell the public whether these were permanent repairs or just quick temporary ones to make the road safe for road users. Since many residents are now reporting these temporary repairs as now failing, there are big questions about how much money Medway Council are wasting on quick-fix solutions.

Viv Parker, Medway Lib Dem campaigner for Fort Horsted, says 'I've done my very best to report all the potholes I've seen or have been told to me by residents, and that has resulted in many of them being repaired. But I've never seen so many in the roads in all the years I have been campaigning, and is clearly the result of the council not properly investing in our roads. They look for quick-fix solutions but don't have a long-term plan for our road maintenance.'

The Medway Liberal Democrats are calling on Medway Council to get a grip with Medway's roads before they become completely unusable. Instead of spending their time on photo-ops and promotional videos, they should be concentrating on developing a robust investment programme in our roads and ensure all repairs are made to high standard so they don't fail a month later. Their current road maintenance is not good enough and Medway deserves better.

ENDS