By Don Mort, local democracy reporter
The council will be urged to do more to patch up the city’s roads after figures showed a rise in accidents and compensation payouts linked to potholes.
Leeds City Council will face claims it is not doing enough to tackle the issue at a meeting next week.
But the council has pointed out that reduced funding from central government has hit the budget for repairing damaged roads and pavements.
A white paper motion from the Conservative group said the number of potholes reported in Leeds had risen by almost 60 per cent in the last five years, with 13,722 reports last year alone.
The motion, for discussion at full council on Wednesday (March 20), said: “There were more than 300 accidents relating to potholes in 2023, compared to an average of 190 between 2019 and 2022, and compensation paid out to those affected by potholes has also nearly doubled in recent years.
“Estimates suggest there is a mean average of 19.5 years backlog in highways maintenance and it would take £288m to bring all roads up to an acceptable standard.”
The motion, tabled by Conservative group leader Coun Alan Lamb, said almost £18m for resurfacing works was provided to the council in 2023 from the government’s City Regions Sustainable Transport Settlement.
It said: “But the council should be investing more of its own money in improving the condition of the city’s roads.”
The motion calls on the council to address disparities between the time it takes to fix potholes in different parts of the city.
It said: “Potholes create safety hazards and misery for road users, cause damage to vehicles, and cost the council thousands of pounds in compensation payouts to those affected.”
Helen Hayden, the council’s executive member for sutainable development and infrastructure, said spending on highways maintenance had been hit by rising inflation and reduced government funding.
Coun Hayden said: “In Leeds we are working in the context of £2.7bn worth of government cuts to our budget and that of course has an impact on what we as a council can do.
“However, keeping the road network in the best condition we can in the face of government budget cuts is critical, which is why this administration continues to invest extra local funding into our network.
“We have a robust asset management system in place in Leeds to monitor and consider works on the highway, with a substantial programme of preventative maintenance works each year which aims to prolong the life of roads and help prevent potholes forming.”
Well I have seen potholes in our area filled by contractors not Lcc they turned up threw tar in holes and drove off two days later it was all out
Used to be done by Lcc they used to put some liquid on hole then tar then used a machine to compact it seems these contractors are doing a bodge job
Not short of money for vanity projects, new 20mph areas and signage. Bus gate cameras, pedestrianisation. No cuts above. Humps on every street along with pot holes.
It’s like driving off road in places
Greenhill Road between Henconner Lane and St Mary’s Hospital is a disgrace reported it 3 times and nothing done
Wonder how many claims the council will have against them
Stanningley Road is a absolute disgrace heading towards Bradford from just before KFC to Bramley Town End. To say that this is the main A road between Leeds & Bradford this should be better cared for. It is embarrasing to say the least and Leeds Council should feel ashamed or this.
All done by cowboys no doubt, another brown envelope in the pocket of a councilor who approves the work
Reported what can only be described as a major suybsidence issue followiung half of trhe road being dug up for works to be carried pout on gas main, co9ntractrors carried out a bodge job that began to subsixde alm ost immediately.
Repprted to the council straight away toi Leeds council, who, if trbheyt hads acted on thge report could have instructed/ordered the contractors responsible for carrdhyingv out thye bodge job to return and carry out the road repair works correctly, as all local authorities have the right to do so if poor works are reported/located within a specific set time period, with the repair/reinstatment works carried out by contractors at no cost to the council until the repairs/reinstatement are carried pout to the correct and proper satisfactory standard!
Leeds City Council ignored my contact and continued to do so when I reported it again within the time limits where it would hgave cost the council nothing except some time from a jobsworth to contact the contractors and instruct them to do the repair/reinstatement works correctly. As was usual, all my contacts for this and other matters was ignored by Leeds City Council and now trhe road will require a full 2 lane repair of the carriageway over a 75 yard stretch of road and all because Leeds City Council and its couyncillors who were also contacted could not be bothered to do anything.
They only have themselves to blame for all of the compensation claims that are submitted for person al in jury and damages to property and vehicles, so instead of trying to pass the blame onto central government and making out that it is only greedy people who are submitting claims against the council, when in fact all that needs to happen is the spending of our council tax money correctly on actual genuine works that are of bemefit to Leeds residents and stop wasting it on grandiose schemes that serve no purpose other than to give yourselves a pat on the back and gain yourself self gratification plaudits
The contractors the council use are very dodgy to say the least. Throw some muck in the hole a bit of tar on top and a week later it is back to square 1.