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Tel. 0844 736 8453
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Press Release 08.06.11: Nation’s top pothole-fixing council – winners announced

The best pothole-fixing council in the UK has been named following a nationwide competition between the nation’s 217 highways authorities.

In an initiative launched at the height of this year’s pothole season, CTC – The UK’s National Cyclists’ Organisation, teamed up with construction company Aggregate Industries to run an award scheme measuring the road maintenance performance of the UK’s highways authorities. From Shetland to Cornwall, and Fermanagh to Norfolk, the general public put potholes on the map at www.fillthathole.org.uk and waited to see how quickly – and how well – they were fixed. The public were then asked to rate their highway authority on the overall condition of the roads, with the best councils receiving five stars, the worst getting just one.

The competition winners were announced on 8 June at the Annual Surveyor Conference at the Walkers Stadium in Leicester. Cheshire West and Chester Council won the Pothole Response Award, for the highest percentage of potholes fixed, repairing all 47 of the road defects reported via Fill That Hole during the competition. Newham, West Lothian, Brent, Redbridge and Luton also scored 100%.

The Pothole Feedback Award, which was based on a public vote, went to the London Borough of Brent. Cheshire West and Chester appeared again as a runner up in this category, along with Bath and North East Somerset Council and Bristol City Council.

Mike Archer from Aggregate Industries said: “Local authorities are under immense pressure regarding road maintenance and we think it is only right to recognise the work they are doing to respond to these problems and ensure our roads are safe. Our awards scheme encouraged local authorities to not only address pothole problems quickly and effectively but also to let the public know how well they are doing. In the battle between fixing potholes and managing the requirement for more effective long term road maintenance, communication with the public is critical.”

Roger Geffen, Campaigns and Policy Director at CTC, added: “The public is very keen to see improved road maintenance standards, and this is particularly true for cyclists, as good surfaces are hugely important for their safety. With Fill That Hole making it easy for road users to report road defects, people are discovering that many councils are good at fixing them quickly once they know about them.”

During the competition, the UK’s public reported 11,200 potholes to Fill That Hole, some of them via the free iPhone app developed in partnership with Aggregate Industries.

Although the competition has now closed, you can still report the pothole on your street by visiting www.fillthathole.org.uk.

ENDS

Contact:
CTC Press Office, Tel. 0844 736 8450, publicity@ctc.org.uk
OR
Anna Jester / Aruna Sharma, Haslimann Taylor PR, Tel. 0121 355 3446, anna@htpr.com / aruna@htpr.com

Notes to editors: – CTC is the UK’s national cyclists’ organisation, with 67,000 members across the UK, is both the oldest and largest cycling body in the UK, established in 1878. CTC provides a comprehensive range of services, advice, events and protection for its members and works to promote cycling by raising public and political awareness of cycling’s health, social and environmental benefits www.ctc.org.uk

- Aggregate Industries quarries, manufactures and supplies a wide range of materials to the construction industry. Through continued innovation and investment it has been certified The Responsible Source offering a diverse portfolio of sustainable solutions to complement its traditional product offering. Operating across the UK, Channel Islands and northern Europe, Aggregate Industries is a member of the Holcim Group.

- The website www.fillthathole.org.uk was set up in January 2007 by CTC – The UK’s National Cyclists’ Organisation. It allows users to pinpoint and report potholes and hazards on the roads using an interactive map. The site passes the information automatically on to the relevant highway authority, which has a duty to ensure roads are correctly maintained. Statistics about the average number of potholes reported per day, and the total number of potholes reported, are updated continually on the home page.

- The Fill That Hole Award was made according to website data collected between 18 January and 17 April 2011. Councils had until 18 May to act on reports submitted to them, in order for their work to count towards the competition results. There were two award categories for councils: (1) Highest percentage of potholes fixed – based on the website statistics; (2) The people’s vote – where website users were invited to mark local authorities on the speed of response, the quality of road repairs and the overall condition of their road surfaces. The runners up in the Highest Percentage Fixed category were, Newham, West Lothian, Brent, Redbridge, Luton. The runners up in the People’s Vote category were: Cheshire West and Chester, Bath and North East Somerset and Bristol.

The full table of competition results is visible at http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/awards/2011/ratings

- The Department of Transport cut England’s £871m road maintenance budget for the financial year 2010-11 to £806m for the year 2011-12, with year on year cuts amounting to 25% by 2015/16.