I would like to respond to the Lib Dems' article on 20 March, titled "Conservatives condemn Hertfordshire to seven years of pothole hell".

Ringway, who have held the maintenance contract for several years, often get the blame for what is not done to repair our roads, but the truth is that they professionally carry out the defect management approach and intervention levels that Hertfordshire County Council stipulate, and that is governed by our nationally recognised Asset Management Strategy, designed to provide best value for money within our limited financial resources.

The example given that they only fix potholes urgently when they are 50mm or more deep is correct, but that level has been democratically agreed as appropriate to keep our roads safe - smaller potholes are programmed for future maintenance, and we fixed 74,000 potholes in the year 2023/24. The figure of 12,650 outstanding potholes is totally inaccurate, as it appears that the journalist who published this figure took Fix My Street data as the true reflection - although we accept fault reports from Fix My Street, we do not subscribe to them, so do not advise them of the outcome so, whilst they record them as outstanding, they have been dealt with, as appropriate, through our own Fault Reporting System, the one we recommend residents use for proper feedback.

Overall, the condition of Hertfordshire's roads is above the national average, and amongst the best in the South East.

I am fully aware that the state of our roads, footways and cycleways is important to residents, and the County Council invests as much as it can, in excess of £100m this coming year, and I share frustration that we cannot do all we would wish as quickly as we would wish. It is estimated that we would need £1bn to put all roads etc. in good order!

I need to refute that the Administration has been secretive. A few years ago, when developing a key strategy, I invited opposition members to take part in a joint advisory group but, as soon as they saw political opportunities to object, they became absent from the group. That is why I did not repeat that process. In the case of the Highways contract procurement, progress was fully updated and debated on several occasions within my cross-party Cabinet Panel - so no secrets.

Finally, Ringway won the contract renewal fairly, against tough opposition, and I am confident Hertfordshire will see renewed benefits from the improvements negotiated.

Phil Bibby, Executive Member for Highways and Transport, Hertfordshire County Council

advertisement