'We'll not fix your Doncaster street because the pot holes are not deep enough'

Chepstow Drive, in Mexborough, is one of many across the borough with potholes, but Doncaster Council will not take any action because they are not deemed deep enough for them to act.

Doncaster highways bosses filled in over 10,000 potholes last year – and the council admits there are hundreds more that need to be addressed.

And Chepstow Drive is just one in a long list of roads where residents want action.

A freedom of information request from the Doncaster Free Press revealed a snapshot of Doncaster’s known potholes, based on figures on October 24 2019, when there were 167 potholes that the council knew about.

The largest number were in the borough’s Thorne and Moorends ward, where there were 33, although officials say this may just mean that was the part of Doncaster where their engineers had been looking during that week.

It also revealed that there had been 10,691 pot holes filled in during the last complete financial year, that having been 2018-19.

Residents on Chepstow Drive are concerned about the state of their road and want to see it fixed. Their local council ward of Mexborough had 13 known potholes on the council list, and saw 276 repairs last year.

The largest number of repairs were in the Town ward, in Doncaster town centre, where 1,229 holes were filled in. Second on that list was Tickhill and Wadworth ward, where 1,018 were mended.

Chepstow Drive residents Darrell and Julie Jones would like to see something done about their street.

Darrell said: “We’ve known it’s bad but thought they’d get round to doing it, even though nothing has happened here for the past 10 years. I am surprised that it’s been like this for so long though.

Wife Julie added: “You get used to seeing it. There are parts of Conisbrough that are even worse. I don’t think we’re seen as a priority and it is only the residents who have an issue with it, but I think it’s time they did something about it. It has got worse and worse every winter.”

Resident Chris Clegg added: “The pavements are bad as well. I’ve got a mobility scoooter and it’s horrendous to travel on.”

Residents Scott and Nicola Christie were also unhappy with the state of the road.

Scott said: “You can see the state of the road. We’re all hard working taxpayers, and I reported it last year, but it’s not been mended. I don’t know if we’re the worst. There are a lot of estates like this. I would appeal for them do something about it. It’s only going to get worse.”

Their local councillor, Sean Gibbons, said he had received a noticeable increase in complaints from local residents regarding potholes.

He said: “Some of the roads and streets are in a terrible state and require urgent attention. We feel that the authority's minimum 40mm intervention criteria needs revisiting as some potholes are like craters and an accident waiting to happen. We will be escalating our ongoing concerns regarding a number of 'hot-spot areas' in the new year and will push for more urgent action from the DMBC Highways Team.”

But other streets have seen quicker repairs.

Mr Gibbons said he had recently reported potholes on Cliff Street, Mexborough, and the council had already been round to fill them in.

Gill Gillies, assistant director of environment at Doncaster Council, said: “We have carried out inspections of the carriageway on Chepstow Drive in Mexborough but the surface defects do not meet the depth threshold for safety repairs and are not considered a risk to road users.

“Whilst no repairs are proposed at the present time, Chepstow Drive and other roads in the vicinity will be considered for a future maintenance scheme, alongside the borough wide needs for similar schemes.”

The council’s highway pothole policy requires defects to be 40mm deep and are subject to a risk assessment.

But the holes on Chepstow Drive have only been measured as 20 to 25mm deep.

Council bosses say when determining risk to road users the council takes into account the size and depth of the pothole, traffic type, speed and volume, road alignment and visibility and also the position in relation to the road width.

Future maintenance schemes are assessed against borough wide needs of the whole network.

Known pot holes in Doncaster on October 24 2019 (by council ward):

Adwick and Carcroft 25

Armthorpe 2

Balby South 3

Bentley 4

Bessacarr 0

Conisbrough 5

Edenthorpe and Kirk Sandall 1

Edlington and Warmsworth 7

Finningley 14

Hatfield 10

Hexthorpe and Balby North 4

Mexborough 13

Norton and Askern 13

Roman Ridge 6

Rossington and Bawtry 7

Sprotbrough 0

Stainforth and Barnby Dun 3

Thorne and Moorends 32

Tickhill and Wadworth 7

Town 8

Wheatley Hills and Intake 3

Total: 167

Potholes filled by ward for year 2018-19

Adwick and Carcroft 400

Armthorpe 409

Balby South 138

Bentley 571

Bessacarr 369

Conisbrough 653

Edenthorpe and Kirk Sandall 187

Edlington and Warmsworth 384

Finningley 528

Hatfield 604

Hexthorpe and Balby North 463

Mexborough 276

Norton and Askern 933

Roman Ridge 276

Rossington and Bawtry 560

Sprotbrough 236

Stainforth and Barnby Dun 303

Thorne and Moorends 658

Tickhill and Wadworth 1018

Town 1229

Wheatley Hills and Intake 496

Total: 10,691