'We cannot fix potholes without more funding'

A council representative has said the authority has contractors ready to fix Kent's potholes, but not sufficient funding to do so.

A report found that the backlog of repairs to "pothole-plagued" roads in the south east of England was £2.5bn.

In a hot seat interview on BBC Radio Kent, Toby Howe, highways and transportation strategic resilience manager at Kent County Council (KCC), said the state of the roads in the county had declined due to a lack of government funding.

The Department for Transport said councils across England would receive a total of £1.6bn to fix roads and fill potholes to "start to reverse a decade of decline on our roads".

Mr Howe, who previously worked as a highway maintenance engineer, said adequate government funding used to allow the council to resurface roads at a reasonable rate.

"Over the years, through many governments, there has been funding cut, cut, cut," he said. "And the state of the countries roads have all fallen in that time.

"Kent is not alone. Every county you go through has the same problem. And it is the severe lack of funding."

Nearly half of the region's road network – more than 13,000 miles – has less than 15 years' structural life remaining, according to the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, produced by the Asphalt Industry Alliance.

Mr Howe added: "If we could have an awful lot of money, we've got companies out there, ready to go.

"We could do what we'd actually really like to do. And that is a strategic asset approach where you get the roads fit for purpose before they are ready to fail."

In May, Reform UK took control of KCC, wiping out the Conservative majority after nearly 30 years.

Mr Howe said it was "too early to tell" if the change in leadership would lead to major changes.

"They've got some great ideas. And they have said potholes are their priority, which is brilliant from our point of view," he said.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said potholes had "plagued motorists for far too long".

"This government is firmly on the side of drivers. Every area of England will get extra cash to tackle this problem once and for all."

A DfT spokesperson added: "We are delivering record investment to end the pothole plague, which is why Kent County Council will receive more than £50 million to fix its roads this year.

"This is alongside the Government's investment of £24 billion in future funding to maintain and improve motorways and local roads across the country."

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