Darwen road conditions 'like Third World'

8:57am Wednesday 4th July 2012 in Darwen Photograph of the Author By Dan Clough, Reporter

Coun Simon Hugill shows cobbles exposed by deteriorating tarmac Coun Simon Hugill shows cobbles exposed by deteriorating tarmac

A town councillor claims a busy side street is like a ‘Third World country’ because the road surface is so bad.

There are a number of potholes and the surface is worn down to the cobbles in one area, at the entrance to St John’s Street, off Sough Road, Darwen.

Coun Simon Huggill said it showed everything that was wrong with the council’s maintenance of roads.

He said: “There are a number of issues here, apart from the huge holes and the worn-out surface.

“The structure of the road is completely gone.

“What is the point of the council contractors doing little bits and pieces? They just end up having to come back.

“It is the economy of the madhouse.

“Instead of coming down and doing bits of patching, they need to do it all.

“This is a microcosm of what is wrong with how our highways are done.

“And it demonstrates the banality of the way the council is doing its street repairs.”

Coun Huggill said the damage to the road surface also causes drains to become blocked.

He said: “Because of all the little bits of stone coming off it, the drains at the end of the road are permanently blocked.

“And then because they are blocked, the next time it rains, the stones run down further and so the next drain becomes blocked, and the next one.”

Marsh House councillor Frank Connor said: “That is a bad road and I have notified the council about it. Unfortunately we can’t just go in and resurface every road because of the Government cuts to council funds.”

n Another Darwen road has also been blighted by potholes, according to resident Simon Heslington.

Mr Heslington said: “The potholes at the bottom of Borough Road are now down to the cobbles.

“Drivers are swerving to miss them, and they are a danger to pedestrians.”

Comments (25)

9:21am Wed 4 Jul 12

Excluded again says...

This will be the same Cllr Huggill who voted against an extra £1 million being put into road maintenance in the last of the 'good years' before Council budgets were slashed by the government.
This will be the same Cllr Huggill who voted against an extra £1 million being put into road maintenance in the last of the 'good years' before Council budgets were slashed by the government. Excluded again

9:24am Wed 4 Jul 12

happycyclist says...

There are bigger problems than a few potholes at the moment, Simon.
There are bigger problems than a few potholes at the moment, Simon. happycyclist

9:26am Wed 4 Jul 12

darwenTower says...

It's not the roads that make Darwen like the Third World.

I'd rather spend money on policing and let the roads go to pot (no pun intended).
It's not the roads that make Darwen like the Third World. I'd rather spend money on policing and let the roads go to pot (no pun intended). darwenTower

9:28am Wed 4 Jul 12

darwenTower says...

Plus...
Don't the Huggills want us driving around at 20mph, the road conditions will work to this end.
Plus... Don't the Huggills want us driving around at 20mph, the road conditions will work to this end. darwenTower

9:56am Wed 4 Jul 12

shytalk says...

People should understand that Britain is now a second world country and wake up to the fact. Perhaps if the government stopped giving away money in foreign aid to countries with a higher GDP like Brazil for instance, then our children and pensionsers might not need to live in poverty, and we might have decent roads.
People should understand that Britain is now a second world country and wake up to the fact. Perhaps if the government stopped giving away money in foreign aid to countries with a higher GDP like Brazil for instance, then our children and pensionsers might not need to live in poverty, and we might have decent roads. shytalk

11:15am Wed 4 Jul 12

elmo maniac says...

Shadsworth is as bad pot holes everywhere sewage was pouring out of the drains at last week rain and is a nightmare to drive over.what does road tax cover.
Shadsworth is as bad pot holes everywhere sewage was pouring out of the drains at last week rain and is a nightmare to drive over.what does road tax cover. elmo maniac

11:39am Wed 4 Jul 12

VERY FRANK says...

Looks like the council reoair team have already taken action as you can see in the picture with the survey paint.
Looks like the council reoair team have already taken action as you can see in the picture with the survey paint. VERY FRANK

11:45am Wed 4 Jul 12

acardriver says...

Lancashire Telegraph - you have photographers don't you? Why don't you take some pictures of these potholes and present them to the council and then demand action.

What happened to the Pothole Watch Campaign? Nothing. What is happening to these potholes? Nothing (except there are more and they are bigger).
Lancashire Telegraph - you have photographers don't you? Why don't you take some pictures of these potholes and present them to the council and then demand action. What happened to the Pothole Watch Campaign? Nothing. What is happening to these potholes? Nothing (except there are more and they are bigger). acardriver

11:47am Wed 4 Jul 12

acardriver says...

VERY FRANK wrote:
Looks like the council reoair team have already taken action as you can see in the picture with the survey paint.
Sometimes these paint marks are there so long the rain washes them away before the pothole is filled.
[quote][p][bold]VERY FRANK[/bold] wrote: Looks like the council reoair team have already taken action as you can see in the picture with the survey paint.[/p][/quote]Sometimes these paint marks are there so long the rain washes them away before the pothole is filled. acardriver

11:47am Wed 4 Jul 12

Michael@ClitheroeSince58 says...

The cobbles look in pretty good condition, I wonder if they are all still in place under the tarmac. anyone thinking what I am?
The cobbles look in pretty good condition, I wonder if they are all still in place under the tarmac. anyone thinking what I am? Michael@ClitheroeSince58

11:50am Wed 4 Jul 12

acardriver says...

happycyclist wrote:
There are bigger problems than a few potholes at the moment, Simon.
http://www.lancashir
etelegraph.co.uk/new
s/8991465.Disabled_D
arwen_woman_injured_
in_pothole_fall/?ref
=rss
[quote][p][bold]happycyclist[/bold] wrote: There are bigger problems than a few potholes at the moment, Simon.[/p][/quote]http://www.lancashir etelegraph.co.uk/new s/8991465.Disabled_D arwen_woman_injured_ in_pothole_fall/?ref =rss acardriver

11:54am Wed 4 Jul 12

happycyclist says...

Michael@ClitheroeSin
ce58 wrote:
The cobbles look in pretty good condition, I wonder if they are all still in place under the tarmac. anyone thinking what I am?
Yes.
Not good for cycling on though.
[quote][p][bold]Michael@ClitheroeSin ce58[/bold] wrote: The cobbles look in pretty good condition, I wonder if they are all still in place under the tarmac. anyone thinking what I am?[/p][/quote]Yes. Not good for cycling on though. happycyclist

12:02pm Wed 4 Jul 12

darwenroads says...

happycyclist wrote:
Michael@ClitheroeSin

ce58 wrote:
The cobbles look in pretty good condition, I wonder if they are all still in place under the tarmac. anyone thinking what I am?
Yes.
Not good for cycling on though.
Ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da,
[quote][p][bold]happycyclist[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]Michael@ClitheroeSin ce58[/bold] wrote: The cobbles look in pretty good condition, I wonder if they are all still in place under the tarmac. anyone thinking what I am?[/p][/quote]Yes. Not good for cycling on though.[/p][/quote]Ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, ya da, darwenroads

12:09pm Wed 4 Jul 12

darwenroads says...

happycyclist wrote:
Michael@ClitheroeSin

ce58 wrote:
The cobbles look in pretty good condition, I wonder if they are all still in place under the tarmac. anyone thinking what I am?
Yes.
Not good for cycling on though.
Are the rumours correct that the IFSC are planing on holding a round of their 2013 championship in some of the holes in Darwen?

http://www.ifsc-clim
bing.org/calendar?pa
ge_name=calendar&yea
r=2013
[quote][p][bold]happycyclist[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]Michael@ClitheroeSin ce58[/bold] wrote: The cobbles look in pretty good condition, I wonder if they are all still in place under the tarmac. anyone thinking what I am?[/p][/quote]Yes. Not good for cycling on though.[/p][/quote]Are the rumours correct that the IFSC are planing on holding a round of their 2013 championship in some of the holes in Darwen? http://www.ifsc-clim bing.org/calendar?pa ge_name=calendar&yea r=2013 darwenroads

12:43pm Wed 4 Jul 12

artinzurich says...

i read the news today, oh boy! 4000 holes.........
i read the news today, oh boy! 4000 holes......... artinzurich

6:20pm Wed 4 Jul 12

darwenroads says...

THIS WAS WRITTEN EIGHTEEN MONTHS AGO........ and displayed here on the LT website.

http://www.lancashir
etelegraph.co.uk/lei
sure/reviews/travel/
8821655.Darwen_motor
ists_angry_at_pothol
es/

SimonHeslington says...
This is the full email I sent to the councillors and Capita (as quoted above). I am happy to send emails about potholes from anyone - please email simonheslington AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk

* * *

At long last the Lancashire Telegraph is getting involved in highlighting the state of the roads in the local area.

Perhaps you would be interested to hear about three areas that have been of concern to me since September 2009.

The areas are James Street West, Belgrave Road and Borough Road, all in Darwen.

Lets take them in turn.

James Street West. This road is full of potholes, worn patches and surface changes. It services the Health Center. As you come down the side of the Heath Center into a heavy braking area the road is so broken up and potholey that it is a wonder that cars are able to stop without hitting anything or any one.

Belgrave Road. This road services a local primary school and the school bus services for several nearby schools, plus our own public bus service. Again this road is full of potholes and surface changes.

Borough Road. What is there to say about this road? Well to put it simply it has been patched and bodged so many times it is probably more the case that there is no original road left to replace - it is either a pothole or a pothole repair. It services Belgrave Road (i.e. the services mentioned above), plus Holy Trinity School, plus the Health Center.

All these problems are well known to the all the people mentioned in the CC in this email. They have been reported to them by me repeatedly since September 2009. Unfortunately they either don't want to (or don't care to) do anything about the problems. Any repairs that are done soon fail and have had to be done again (and again and again). Take that cut out on Borough Road - it took TWELVE months to get it fixed. Countless hours wasted in sending pictures and emails every time a new hole appeared. There must have been TWENTY different patches in an area less than the size of a small bathroom.

Every time we have cold weather they blame that for causing the potholes - if that is so how come you can see them on Google Earth (some of the images there are from MAY 2009). A case in point is the area around Hollins Grove, Darwen. That has been patched and patched so many times at a cost I don't even want to think about.

The point of this email to you is this - IF it has taken nearly 18 months of almost constant pestering and reminding to the people copied into this email for just three short stretches of road how much is needed to get them to do anything about all the other roads in the area that are just as bad and worse than the areas highlighted above.

They probably think it is cheaper to patch the potholes than properly repair the road. What I think they fail to see and understand is that the potholes are not randomly appearing all over, but that there are certain key areas that are being repeatedly repaired again and again. How much this is costing I do not know - (I did ask but the councillor never bothered to reply).

Until these KEY areas are sorted out and PROPERLY REPAIRED they are simply wasting money that could be used to repair the minor odd pothole here and there.

There needs to be a massive overhaul of all the major roads in Darwen otherwise this problem is just going to get worse and worse and worse and......
THIS WAS WRITTEN EIGHTEEN MONTHS AGO........ and displayed here on the LT website. http://www.lancashir etelegraph.co.uk/lei sure/reviews/travel/ 8821655.Darwen_motor ists_angry_at_pothol es/ SimonHeslington says... This is the full email I sent to the councillors and Capita (as quoted above). I am happy to send emails about potholes from anyone - please email simonheslington AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk * * * At long last the Lancashire Telegraph is getting involved in highlighting the state of the roads in the local area. Perhaps you would be interested to hear about three areas that have been of concern to me since September 2009. The areas are James Street West, Belgrave Road and Borough Road, all in Darwen. Lets take them in turn. James Street West. This road is full of potholes, worn patches and surface changes. It services the Health Center. As you come down the side of the Heath Center into a heavy braking area the road is so broken up and potholey that it is a wonder that cars are able to stop without hitting anything or any one. Belgrave Road. This road services a local primary school and the school bus services for several nearby schools, plus our own public bus service. Again this road is full of potholes and surface changes. Borough Road. What is there to say about this road? Well to put it simply it has been patched and bodged so many times it is probably more the case that there is no original road left to replace - it is either a pothole or a pothole repair. It services Belgrave Road (i.e. the services mentioned above), plus Holy Trinity School, plus the Health Center. All these problems are well known to the all the people mentioned in the CC in this email. They have been reported to them by me repeatedly since September 2009. Unfortunately they either don't want to (or don't care to) do anything about the problems. Any repairs that are done soon fail and have had to be done again (and again and again). Take that cut out on Borough Road - it took TWELVE months to get it fixed. Countless hours wasted in sending pictures and emails every time a new hole appeared. There must have been TWENTY different patches in an area less than the size of a small bathroom. Every time we have cold weather they blame that for causing the potholes - if that is so how come you can see them on Google Earth (some of the images there are from MAY 2009). A case in point is the area around Hollins Grove, Darwen. That has been patched and patched so many times at a cost I don't even want to think about. The point of this email to you is this - IF it has taken nearly 18 months of almost constant pestering and reminding to the people copied into this email for just three short stretches of road how much is needed to get them to do anything about all the other roads in the area that are just as bad and worse than the areas highlighted above. They probably think it is cheaper to patch the potholes than properly repair the road. What I think they fail to see and understand is that the potholes are not randomly appearing all over, but that there are certain key areas that are being repeatedly repaired again and again. How much this is costing I do not know - (I did ask but the councillor never bothered to reply). Until these KEY areas are sorted out and PROPERLY REPAIRED they are simply wasting money that could be used to repair the minor odd pothole here and there. There needs to be a massive overhaul of all the major roads in Darwen otherwise this problem is just going to get worse and worse and worse and...... darwenroads

7:00pm Wed 4 Jul 12

Michael@ClitheroeSince58 says...

darwenroads wrote:
happycyclist wrote:
Michael@ClitheroeSin


ce58 wrote:
The cobbles look in pretty good condition, I wonder if they are all still in place under the tarmac. anyone thinking what I am?
Yes.
Not good for cycling on though.
Are the rumours correct that the IFSC are planing on holding a round of their 2013 championship in some of the holes in Darwen?

http://www.ifsc-clim

bing.org/calendar?pa

ge_name=calendar&amp
;yea
r=2013
Oh well it was only an idea :)
[quote][p][bold]darwenroads[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]happycyclist[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]Michael@ClitheroeSin ce58[/bold] wrote: The cobbles look in pretty good condition, I wonder if they are all still in place under the tarmac. anyone thinking what I am?[/p][/quote]Yes. Not good for cycling on though.[/p][/quote]Are the rumours correct that the IFSC are planing on holding a round of their 2013 championship in some of the holes in Darwen? http://www.ifsc-clim bing.org/calendar?pa ge_name=calendar& ;yea r=2013[/p][/quote]Oh well it was only an idea :) Michael@ClitheroeSince58

7:02pm Wed 4 Jul 12

Michael@ClitheroeSince58 says...

Michael@ClitheroeSin
ce58 wrote:
darwenroads wrote:
happycyclist wrote:
Michael@ClitheroeSin



ce58 wrote:
The cobbles look in pretty good condition, I wonder if they are all still in place under the tarmac. anyone thinking what I am?
Yes.
Not good for cycling on though.
Are the rumours correct that the IFSC are planing on holding a round of their 2013 championship in some of the holes in Darwen?

http://www.ifsc-clim


bing.org/calendar?pa


ge_name=calendar&amp
;
;yea
r=2013
Oh well it was only an idea :)
But it is only a side street, would that cause cyclists a lot of trouble?
[quote][p][bold]Michael@ClitheroeSin ce58[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]darwenroads[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]happycyclist[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]Michael@ClitheroeSin ce58[/bold] wrote: The cobbles look in pretty good condition, I wonder if they are all still in place under the tarmac. anyone thinking what I am?[/p][/quote]Yes. Not good for cycling on though.[/p][/quote]Are the rumours correct that the IFSC are planing on holding a round of their 2013 championship in some of the holes in Darwen? http://www.ifsc-clim bing.org/calendar?pa ge_name=calendar& ; ;yea r=2013[/p][/quote]Oh well it was only an idea :)[/p][/quote]But it is only a side street, would that cause cyclists a lot of trouble? Michael@ClitheroeSince58

10:19pm Wed 4 Jul 12

Your ferret stinks says...

Michael@ClitheroeSin
ce58 wrote:
Michael@ClitheroeSin

ce58 wrote:
darwenroads wrote:
happycyclist wrote:
Michael@ClitheroeSin




ce58 wrote:
The cobbles look in pretty good condition, I wonder if they are all still in place under the tarmac. anyone thinking what I am?
Yes.
Not good for cycling on though.
Are the rumours correct that the IFSC are planing on holding a round of their 2013 championship in some of the holes in Darwen?

http://www.ifsc-clim



bing.org/calendar?pa



ge_name=calendar&amp
;
;
;yea
r=2013
Oh well it was only an idea :)
But it is only a side street, would that cause cyclists a lot of trouble?
Not unless they were in tandam!
LOL
[quote][p][bold]Michael@ClitheroeSin ce58[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]Michael@ClitheroeSin ce58[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]darwenroads[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]happycyclist[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]Michael@ClitheroeSin ce58[/bold] wrote: The cobbles look in pretty good condition, I wonder if they are all still in place under the tarmac. anyone thinking what I am?[/p][/quote]Yes. Not good for cycling on though.[/p][/quote]Are the rumours correct that the IFSC are planing on holding a round of their 2013 championship in some of the holes in Darwen? http://www.ifsc-clim bing.org/calendar?pa ge_name=calendar& ; ; ;yea r=2013[/p][/quote]Oh well it was only an idea :)[/p][/quote]But it is only a side street, would that cause cyclists a lot of trouble?[/p][/quote]Not unless they were in tandam! LOL Your ferret stinks

3:37pm Thu 5 Jul 12

english rose 1 says...

darwenroads - which councillor did you report the potholes to ? Who did not reply ??
darwenroads - which councillor did you report the potholes to ? Who did not reply ?? english rose 1

4:08pm Thu 5 Jul 12

darwenroads says...

david foster ; george bell ; graham burgess ; highways@blackburn.g
ov.uk; ian richardson ; Janet Smith ; joanne croasdale ; John Horrocks ; kate hollern ; shoaib mohammad ; Stephen.Booth ; Steven Kenyon ; Victoria McCann ;

Also councillors; Simon Hugill, Tony Melia, David Hollings, Trevor Maxfield. Any one else I can find emails for. And WITHOUT EXCEPTION non of these care to reply to any of my concerns. Potholes have been reported since 2009 and it takes months for anything to happen.
david foster [council]; george bell [capita]; graham burgess [council]; highways@blackburn.g ov.uk; ian richardson [capita]; Janet Smith [capita]; joanne croasdale [capita]; John Horrocks [council]; kate hollern [council]; shoaib mohammad [capita]; Stephen.Booth [council]; Steven Kenyon [council]; Victoria McCann [capita]; Also councillors; Simon Hugill, Tony Melia, David Hollings, Trevor Maxfield. Any one else I can find emails for. And WITHOUT EXCEPTION non of these care to reply to any of my concerns. Potholes have been reported since 2009 and it takes months for anything to happen. darwenroads

4:31pm Thu 5 Jul 12

darwenroads says...

There are several areas in and around Darwen. They've been bad for years. Why don't they JUST FIX THEM? It's done then and they'll be right for years if done properly. I don't mean the odd pothole here and there I mean the large areas of uneven-broken-up-mul
ti-patched-stretches
-of-road. These are main roads and secondary main roads, not side roads.
There are several areas in and around Darwen. They've been bad for years. Why don't they JUST FIX THEM? It's done then and they'll be right for years if done properly. I don't mean the odd pothole here and there I mean the large areas of uneven-broken-up-mul ti-patched-stretches -of-road. These are main roads and secondary main roads, not side roads. darwenroads

7:22pm Thu 5 Jul 12

gazdula says...

We all know the Borough can't afford to sort every road problem out at the minute, mainly because of the cuts which have been imposed by tight toffs running the country.

However, why doesn't the Town Council pull its finger out? I know "it's not their responsability" but it's about time they did something, other than events, for once.
We all know the Borough can't afford to sort every road problem out at the minute, mainly because of the cuts which have been imposed by tight toffs running the country. However, why doesn't the Town Council pull its finger out? I know "it's not their responsability" but it's about time they did something, other than events, for once. gazdula

5:02pm Fri 6 Jul 12

pbrock says...

"Between two hills, so bleak and barren, lies a town called mucky Darren"

I see things have not changed since I left in '79.
"Between two hills, so bleak and barren, lies a town called mucky Darren" I see things have not changed since I left in '79. pbrock

7:18pm Sat 7 Jul 12

english rose 1 says...

darwenroads wrote:
david foster ; george bell ; graham burgess ; highways@blackburn.g

ov.uk; ian richardson ; Janet Smith ; joanne croasdale ; John Horrocks ; kate hollern ; shoaib mohammad ; Stephen.Booth ; Steven Kenyon ; Victoria McCann ;

Also councillors; Simon Hugill, Tony Melia, David Hollings, Trevor Maxfield. Any one else I can find emails for. And WITHOUT EXCEPTION non of these care to reply to any of my concerns. Potholes have been reported since 2009 and it takes months for anything to happen.
Well seeing that 3 of the 4 Councillors are no longer Borough Councillors (and have not been for 2 years) and represented different wards within Darwen I suggest you report the potholes to your current ward Councillors ! I don't know where you live but I'd be very surprised indeed if you do not get a reply from at least one of your ward councillors.
[quote][p][bold]darwenroads[/bold] wrote: david foster [council]; george bell [capita]; graham burgess [council]; highways@blackburn.g ov.uk; ian richardson [capita]; Janet Smith [capita]; joanne croasdale [capita]; John Horrocks [council]; kate hollern [council]; shoaib mohammad [capita]; Stephen.Booth [council]; Steven Kenyon [council]; Victoria McCann [capita]; Also councillors; Simon Hugill, Tony Melia, David Hollings, Trevor Maxfield. Any one else I can find emails for. And WITHOUT EXCEPTION non of these care to reply to any of my concerns. Potholes have been reported since 2009 and it takes months for anything to happen.[/p][/quote]Well seeing that 3 of the 4 Councillors are no longer Borough Councillors (and have not been for 2 years) and represented different wards within Darwen I suggest you report the potholes to your current ward Councillors ! I don't know where you live but I'd be very surprised indeed if you do not get a reply from at least one of your ward councillors. english rose 1

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