Patchway Potholes

People keep telling me that the roads near where they live are very bad with potholes and crumbling road surfaces. I then invite them over to my house. And simply everyone is astonished at the very poor condition of roads near to me. I am now formally complaining about this issue and below are copies of emails I have.

If your venhicle is damaged by a pothole, I recommend you visit this site: http://www.potholes.co.uk/claims/how_to_claim

These are the emails I have so far concerning the potholes in Patchway. My original start was on the South Gloucestershire web site. They have a “report pothole” button. I duly filled it an and this is their acknowledgement:

 This was received on 6 May at 14.59. And I have not heard from them since.

This is an automated email from South Gloucestershire Council. Please DO NOT reply to this email as replies will not be monitored.

This is to confirm that your report of a fault on the highway has been successfully submitted to us.

If you need to contact us regarding this matter, please quote the following reference: WEB-0161448

___________________________________________________________________________

 South Gloucestershire Council – rated April 2009 under the Comprehensive Performance Assessment a maximum ‘4 star’ council by the Audit Commission.

 

At the same time, I also sent an email to Patchway Council advsing them of what I had done. My local Counsellor only lives 100 metres away from me and she replied as follows:

“Sorry its taking me so long to get back to you, unfortunately my job with the Health Service have taken alot of my time over the last few weeks.  But of course you have my support re the state of Patchway Roads, especially around the Coniston Road, Bevington Walk area.  I have noticed that some of the potholes between Strode Road and Kestrel Road have been filled in, but I feel that is the guys doing the street lighting using up their spare tarmac.  I have e-mailed Street Care but I know they have a limited budget for the whole of South Gloucestershire and know that they are trying their best to repair all of South Gloucestershire roads, we as a council are all moaning to Street Care re the state of the roads but unfortunately we do not have a magic wand to get them re done quickly before a serious accident happens.

Regards”

And then I replied as follows:

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me. I have waited for a reply from South Glos, but alas, nothing has reached me.

Could you let me have the email for the Street Care so I can contact them direct? I was well aware that the excuse is lack of budget. My issue is how the budget is spent.  When you have a budget, you choose how to spend it. The choices were, in my opinion, plain wrong. From my viewpoint, the timeline is as follows:

 Street Lights

 The lights started to be replaced around September 2009. Whoever agreed the replacement and budget spending needs to hold their head in shame. The nation was in the middle of a severe recession that had already been going for over a year. So why replace perfectly functioning street lamps?!! The Council should have been seen to cut back. And didn’t do so. Error No 1

 Salting of Roads

 The 09/10 winter was one of the severest we have had for many years. No one could have foreseen that. I have lived in Bevington Close since 1984. It was noticeable that the roads had much less salt put down compared to snowfalls in past years. This caused the poor road surfaces we now have. However, South Glos chose to use the minimum amount of salt. They had plenty left – as evidenced by the Minister for Transport ordering South Glos to share their excess salt with Bristol City Council!!

Error No 2

Recent repairs

The recent repairs are no more than temporary patches and have been poorly done. When I turn right out of Bevington Close and drive over the patches towards the post box, it is like driving over rumble strips. Yes, the tarmac is not level. Error No 3

Now out of personal choice, I drive a nice car. Four tyres cost £750. Who can I send the bill to? Or perhaps I can only claim for collapsed suspension?

Last week I drove to the outskirts of Gloucester and went onto a “B” country road in the GL2 area. It had been completely re-surfaced over a 3 mile stretch. Yet Coniston Road is a nightmare to drive on and it is a bus route as well. Am I right in thinking that Pathway is deemed to be a poor sub-standard area and budgets are spent accordingly? Error No 4 looms large.

I will be sending all this correspondence to our new MP next week as I assume he has the power to twist the appropriate arms. Any comments you have in the meantime would be greatly appreciated.

And there we stand at the present moment.

A Suzuki Swift had its suspension damaged in Highwood Lane, details are here: http://www.potholes.co.uk/stories/view/833/Highwood_Lane_Patchway_Bristol/

Here are some pictures of just a few (!) potholes in Bevington Close. All taken on afternoon of 2 June 2010. Spot the faded yellow paint. South Glos Council marked these in March – with the benefit of hindsight, wish I had recorded the date!

Pothole 1

 

Pothole 1 close up

 

Pothole 2

 

Pothole 2 close uo

 

Pothole 3

 

Pothole 3 close up

 

Pothole 4

 

pothole 4 with matchbox for scale

 

Pothole 5

 

Pothole 5 close up

 

Pothole 5 with matchbox for scale

Politics, heaven and hell

THIS IS A NONPARTISAN JOKE THAT CAN BE ENJOYED BY All PARTIES!

NOT ONLY THAT– IT IS POLITICALLY CORRECT!!

While walking down the street one day a “Member of Parliament” was tragically hit by a truck and died.

His soul arrived in heaven and was met by St. Peter at the entrance.

‘Welcome to heaven,’ said St. Peter.. ‘Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts you see, so we’re not sure what to do with you.’

‘No problem, just let me in,’ said the man.

‘Well, I’d like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we’ll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.’

‘Really, I’ve made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,’ said the MP.

‘I’m sorry, but we have our rules.’

And with that, St. Peter escorted him to the elevator and he was sent down, down, down to hell. The doors opened and he found himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance was a clubhouse, standing in front of it were all his deceased friends, many of whom were politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone was very happy and in evening dress. They ran to greet him, shaking his hand, and reminiscing about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne 

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly & nice guy who enjoyed dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realized it, it was time to go.

The M.P. received a hearty farewell and waved while the elevator began to move upwards…

The elevator went up, up, up and the door reopened in heaven where St. Peter was waiting for him.

‘Now it’s time to visit heaven.’

So, 24 hours pass with the M.P. joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing their harps and singing.  They had a good time and, before he realized it, the 24 hours had gone by and St. Peter returned.

‘Well, then, you’ve spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.’

The MP reflects for a minute, then he answers: ‘Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.’

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he went down, down, down to hell.

The doors of the elevator opened and he’s in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He saw all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash fell from above.

The devil came over to him and put an arm around his shoulders. ‘I don’t understand,’ stammered the M.P. ‘Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time… Now there’s just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable.

What happened?’ 

The devil looked at him, smiled and said,

‘Yesterday we were campaigning…  Today you voted.’