Pot holes are a national issue

I have suspected this during the county council elections in 2013 when I spoke to a guy on the doorstep who has nothing better to do than report all the pot holes in Potters Bar to the council by telephone. Many local councillors and I'm not attacking any individual politicians here, relied on fixing potholes to get elected in the last few years for their voters. However, there is a national pattern. The cuts, which I've taken a very clear position against at the Green Party's conference, have really hit local roads. Major trunk roads get very little pot holes because of the maintenence regime they have. If potholes are just patched the water very quickly erodes the surface getting deep into the road. The motorways are top dressed every few years with tar and stones. This saves the otherwise expensive job of having to re-do the deeper layers. However, there is an idiotic petition against this maintenence on the grounds that speeding drivers might go over the loose stones and chip a bit of glass window somewhere. The Green Party supports the campaign for a 20 mph default speed limit in areas which are currently 30. I propose extending this regulation to prohibit motor traffic on certain streets. Barnet council has a 5 million gap to fill and keeping all streets up to standard is not going to cut it. Leadership is required to protect social care and sacrifice the little-used access roads. The advantage would also make it safer and more pleasant for our neighbours to play in the streets or maybe have some peace and quite. The slides can be obtained by emailing first.contact@barnet.gov.uk asking for the Environment Working Group slides from Re about the potholes.