Malmesbury teenager highlights potholes – and The Sun newspaper …
Ben Thornbury was frustrated about getting nowhere with reporting potholes in Malmesbury on the recommended MyWilts App so took the situation into his own hands.
He set up a Fix Our Potholes – Malmesbury Facebook page and posted a picture a roadworks sign that had creative additions which said ‘High Street crazy potholes golf now open’ and ‘Wiltshire Council you are a disgrace, fix the potholes.’
Pothole crazy golf sign in Malmesbury High Street (Image: Ben Thornbury)
The post received hundreds of comments and led to a visit from a popular tabloid.
A reporter and photographer from The Sun visited the town and tried playing golf in the road on Thursday, April 6.
Ben said: “I knew by taking to social media we may get some answers. So I created a sign and I thought to take it up to the spot on the High Street with the most potholes.
“Our local town council, Malmesbury Town Council, have been brilliant – it’s Wiltshire Council that are the problem.
“Hopefully we can get a rough estimate of a date when they plan to resurface the road and do a proper good job.
“These potholes don’t do vehicles any good and it’s certainly not a good impression for visitors and with it being the oldest borough in England, you would think we would have some priority.”
Wiltshire Council has since condemned the sign for being a ‘distraction to road users’.
Multiple crater size holes, a leaky pipe and an abundance of rubble are scattered across the High Street and many locals believe it poses a risk to their safety.
Potholes in Malmesbury High Street (Image: Andrew Denley)
Motorists are demanding more action from Wiltshire Council following numerous shredded tyres and at least one accident report.
Deputy mayor and Wiltshire county councillor Gavin Grant said: “The state of Malmesbury High Street is a danger to road users, pedestrians and local businesses.
“Water leaks under the road have played their part, but Wiltshire Council must act now to recreate a safe and acceptable road surface, before someone is seriously hurt or worse.”
Rubble from the potholes in Malmesbury High Street (Image: Andrew Denley)
The councillor is worried about the Royal Logistics Regiment’s coronation celebratory march which is planned along the High Street on Saturday, May 20.
Several members of the community have taken to Facebook to air their grievances and believe Wiltshire Council are not taking enough decisive action to solve the issue, and are only providing short term solutions.
One resident told the Standard: “A lorry came to the street about a week ago in the pouring rain and poured buckets of tarmac into water filled holes and stamped on it and that was it!”
Wiltshire Council has recently been awarded an additional £3.6m from the Department for Transport’s Pothole Fund has revealed and said the crazy golf sign will be removed.
Caroline Thomas, cabinet member for transport at Wiltshire Council, said: “There has been an increase in the number of potholes across the country, not just in Wiltshire.
“We intend to create heatmaps of the areas with the worst pothole problems, and we will use this data to identify roads in most need.
“We are working hard to tackle the issue, and when there are increases in the number of potholes reported, we deploy additional resources as required.
“Deeper potholes require more urgent attention than others, so we prioritise defects based on intervention levels contained within our Highways Inspection Manual.
“We would advise those concerned to please report highway defects and potholes to us using MyWilts – either through our website or by using the smartphone app.
“The signs that have appeared in Malmesbury will be removed as they could pose a distraction to road users.”