OPINION: Letters to the editor of the Newbury Weekly News
Change of process is needed to fix potholes
Having recently shelled out hundreds of pounds to replace tyres wrecked by potholes on the lamentable roads of West Berkshire, I was intrigued by the proposed expenditure in the next council financial year of £1.7m on fixing them (Newbury Weekly News, March 6).
A while back I chanced upon a report saying WBC repaired around 2,250 potholes over a 12-month period, ie around just nine per working day.
A later conversation with an executive member confirmed an average of around eight per day, so my recollection was probably correct.
Your report did not indicate how many potholes would be covered by the sum, but assuming an increase from current levels of around one third, this suggests an average cost of around £600.
Doubling the number would yield an average cost of around £400.
These are astonishing high figures but of course they are average costs, not marginal ones, because they would include all the compliance costs of ensuring third contractors behave properly.
These numbers should give rise to bringing road maintenance back into council hands, carried out by council employees.
Yes, there would be initial costs for equipment etc and staff costs would probably be higher as employees would be entitled to pensions, but there would be none of the compliance costs and a huge benefit in allowing common sense to prevail in that if what one might call an adolescent pothole (one not currently deemed big enough to fix) is found near to planned repair work, it could be fixed immediately.
I see in your report that the council has already saved millions by cutting down on hired staff; still more could be saved.
Every time I now swerve round a pothole, I recall, as some readers with elephantine memories may, the grossly over-optimistic boast in your columns by former councillor Jeanette Clifford, some eight years ago the executive member for highways, that, following a local visit she had made, new technology would mean potholes would be a thing of the past.
That went well didn’t it Jeanette, but your successors do need to investigate whether a change of process would be beneficial.
Julian Waghorn
Bucklebury Alley
So sad that Paddington statue was vandalised
I am so sad about Paddington Bear being vandalised.
Especially so as Michael Bond was born in Newbury.
Newbury is Paddington’s home.
Mrs Lesley Cave
Lambourn Place, Lambourn
Our post is still being delivered much too late
The Post Office still seems to be stacking up the post and then delivering a pile a couple of days a week.
We received a bundle today (March 4) which included a cruise brochure with offers expiring on February 28.
Mary Foster
Newbury
Could prefab buildings solve the housing crisis?
Your article (Newbury Weekly News, March 6) seems to imply that this ludicrous scheme could go ahead because ‘the Government wants more homes built on sustainable sites – which might see the Government lean towards a yes for the so-called ‘Eagle Quarter’.
Perhaps naively I can’t believe this could happen.
Not so long ago the Government were apparently considering reinstating the prefab due to its ease of erection and shortage of responsible builders.
Some years ago we saw the one at the Imperial War Museum and were struck by how well-designed it was.
Even more years ago I lived in one such house in the Northern Rhodesia Police Camp at Lusaka.
They could be speedily erected on a concrete slab and were cool in summer and warm in winter.
A perfect short-term solution.
Maybe not as appealing as your country cottage with roses round the door but not unattractive either.
I can even suggest a couple of sites for a few, eg Winchcombe Road industrial site where there's a huge barn-type building – RJ Motors.
You could get four in that space.
Many other possibilities here and there in Newbury for those with a bit of imagination, unfortunately not often found in civil servants.
You all (Government and local council) need to think outside the box and consider compulsory purchase orders for empty sites.
Be the first in the nation to come up with an original idea – why not?
Joy Nelson
Hampton Road, Newbury
