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Lightning strikes twice: B&NES starts patching Saltford potholes hours before MP's on-site Street Meeting Long-awaited pothole repairs have been made 'covertly' by a Council just days before a special on-site Street Meeting arranged by the local MP (November 2009). It is the second time Bath and North East Somerset Council has 'coincidentally' repaired potholes hours before Dan Norris MP was due to hold a Street Meeting to enable constituents' pothole concerns to be raised directly with the Council. But the Council's
action this time - in Montague Road, Saltford - has misfired, because
Dan Norris said: "It's clear to everyone that the pressure has shamed B&NES into taking some overdue action in Montague Road. "The patching work suddenly undertaken this week has not come out of the blue. As has happened in Lays Drive, Keynsham, the work has come just days before a special Street Meeting I arranged for residents to explain first-hand their concerns to Council officers. B&NES will plead otherwise, but without the pressure of this meeting these repairs wouldn't have happened. "B&NES have ducked my meeting, despite having had three weeks' notice, because they prefer to hide from the public. Yet if they thought this emergency patching makes them look efficient they must think again. It's backfiring badly for B&NES as people see clearly this repair work is no coincidence, but a direct result of my ongoing pressure upon them. My involvement arose in the first place because of B&NES' lack of response to local people. "It is clearer than ever that ramping up the pressure on this badly-run Council does work. In most places, councils respond directly to local people, but not here in North East Somerset. People who want results should contact me if they want action." Mr Norris highlighted there remain very many locations in Montague Road where patching work has still not been carried out (see photographs above, taken the day after the patching - click on small images above to see higher resolution images). In some cases remaining potholes are right next to newly-patched ones. "Montague Road residents have been telling me for some time they want stretches of their road completely resurfaced," he said. "They've been telling me because B&NES has been ignoring them. For a residential road it's very busy, and I get a higher proportion of pothole complaints from Montague Road than from most North East Somerset neighbourhoods. "Sadly, B&NES's refusal to come and listen to local people this coming Friday morning suggests they will just plough on making the same mistakes time after time after time. "A similar on site Street Meeting aimed at addressing pothole concerns (in Lays Drive, Keynsham) WAS attended by B&NES officers, who had 'coincidentally' sent patch repairers to mend some of the road's worst potholes just the day before the meeting was scheduled to take place. This led to widespread ridicule of the Council's 'coincidence' claims by residents and media alike. "Just as Lays
Drive residents weren't fooled by B&NES, neither will residents of
Montague Road be. They will be pleased that some work has been done, but
extremely frustrated and puzzled that, despite the Council being in the
road to mend potholes, most of the road's potholes remain untouched."
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