Fury over council’s ‘pig’s ear’ job to repair potholes on residential road

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Photographs show the uneven surface left after sub-contractor workmen tackled the potholes in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, this month. A councillor described the work undertaken as a “pig’s ear job” and has demanded answers of the authority.

Nottinghamshire County Council has conceded the work was “unsatisfactory”, and the contractor will re-do at its own expense.

But Councillor Lee Waters, who represents Hucknall South for the Ashfield Independents on the authority, called the work “embarrassing”.

“Of course, it’s welcome that the work will be put right. To blame subbies for the poor job is passing the buck, however,” the councillor added.

“I have submitted a question for full council this Thursday specifically on this issue and will be pushing for an immediate review of all sub-contractors who carry out work on behalf of the county council.”

“This work is about 30 years too late but shows that working with residents I can deliver improvements that benefit Hucknall. I’ve only got somewhere in the region of 200 roads to go but will continue to ensure that Hucknall gets its fair share of highway’s improvements.”

Residents also told Nottinghamshire Live of their dismay.

The road, which is in the south of the prosperous market town and adjacent to a large park, is in a residential area around six miles north of Nottingham itself.

Carl Westwell, who lives on the road with his family, said: “It looks horrendous.

“When they put a little bit of Tarmac near two holes – look at the state of the rest of the road.

“I’ve lived here for two years and it’s always been terrible.

“I think when you look at the state of the road I’m not surprised people are getting their cars damaged.”

The 40-year-old man added: “On a Thursday when the bus truck comes down that’s obviously having an impact because the heavy goods come down, delivery trucks – the state of the road is just terrible; it’s crumbling away.

“I want to see a proper tarmac road that’s smooth for everyone to drive on and that is safe.”

Nathan Chambers, 28, said: “This road is long overdue looking into. It’s not great, is it?

“Not surprised it’s a standard council job – no one’s really that surprised, to be honest.

“It’s years and years of neglect – it doesn’t get like that overnight.

“They should just make this road residential and sort out this road once and for all.

“The whole thing needs doing to be honest. It’s definitely one of the worst roads in this area.”

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Amy Roberts, a 34-year-old resident, said: “Last week they came and just did it and that was it.

“I’ve lived here for 13 years and since I’ve lived here it’s always been the same.

“We have had lots of tires that go down quite a bit. It’s terrible on here.

“What they’ve done now they did that a year ago – I watched them do it after the school run.

“They were just chucking it down and that was it.

“They just had redone what they did last year.”

“It is really bad.

“It’s just so old and they have never maintained it.”

Nottinghamshire County Council, which is controlled by the Conservative Party, said the job was “not acceptable”.

Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, chairman of the transport and environment committee, said: “I have seen the emergency repair work carried out on Brookside and it is not acceptable.

“In some cases it is necessary to carry out emergency repairs to make the highway safe before our operatives return to carry out more extensive repairs, but, in this case, the work carried out by a sub-contractor is unsatisfactory even as a temporary measure, and they will be re-doing the job at their own expense.

“Nottinghamshire County Council has recently carried out a Highways Review where it was agreed as a matter of policy that we will be focusing on local estate roads carrying out more extensive repairs and resurfacing on roads that are in particularly poor condition.

“Brookside is one of those roads scheduled for this work in the coming year, and we will be working to ensure that the end result is far more satisfactory for local residents and road users when completed.”

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