Lib Dems urge council to get on with pothole repair review

Liberal Democrat councillors have hit out at City of York Council’s failure to review its approach to determining how deep a pothole has to be before it is filled. 

In July 2023 Cllr Stephen Fenton, Lib Dem Transport Spokesperson, tabled a council motion on the issue which won cross-party support. It noted that under the council’s current policy, a pothole has to be 40mm deep in order to be repaired. The motion approved by councillors called on the council’s Labour Executive to review the Highways Safety Inspection Manual (which sets the pothole depth policy) and explore a change to the ‘investigatory level’ for potholes from 40mm to 30mm. 

But two and a half years later, there has been no review of the pothole repair policy, meaning that road users are having to navigate deteriorating road conditions which risk causing damage to vehicles and are particularly hazardous for cyclists. The situation has been made even worse by the fact that the council is now filling in fewer potholes than in previous years – in 2022/23 3,168 potholes were filled, falling to 2,255 in 2024/25. 

Cllr Fenton has called on the Labour Executive Member for Transport to get on with the review of the pothole policy so that councillors and residents can have their say. 

“Residents are rightly frustrated when they see a pothole filled, but another one just a few feet away is not filled. It clearly makes sense to address clusters of potholes at the same time rather than waiting for each pothole in a specific location to deteriorate until an intervention is required. 

“Proactive and preventative measures to keep roads in good condition are obviously important, but without a significant increase in funding from national or regional government, we are likely to be stuck in a situation where we are having to patch up road surfaces to make them safe.” 

The Lib Dems’ call for a review was motivated in part by the condition of concrete roads across the city which, some years ago, were overlaid with a tarmac layer approximately 30mm in depth. On many of these roads, such as Lowfields Drive in Westfield ward, the tarmac layer is crumbling, causing ruts and potholes to develop. Due to the concrete structure of these roads remaining largely intact, these potholes are unlikely to ever meet the current investigatory threshold. 

In November 2023 Lib Dem Westfield ward Councillor Andrew Waller presented a petition signed by 84 local residents calling on the council to resurface Lowfields Drive. Since then, the road surface has become increasingly rutted, with no prospect of repairs. 

Cllr Waller commented “Local residents have had to put up with years of disruption from HGVs servicing the Lowfield Green housing development, which has inevitably taken its toll of roads and verges. Lowfields Drive is particularly hazardous for cyclists and it’s hugely frustrating that the council’s current policy means the road doesn’t meet the threshold for repair. And since Labour scrapped the Ward Highways Budget, that can no longer be used for road and footpath resurfacing as it was under the Lib Dems. 

“At a time when cycling rates are falling, it’s vital that we make roads safer so that people are more likely to choose to cycle locally.”