Why roads are not all going to pot in Holland

Could the poor state of Horncastles roads benefit from going Dutch?

Andrew Neal has recently championed calls for a by-pass in the town and is concerned about the general poor state of roads .

However, Mr Neal has just returned from a holiday in Holland and says lessons could be learned.

Mr Neal said: “The roads there - even the C Class roads - are silky smooth. There are no potholes at all.

“Obviously, the Dutch have learnt how to be economical. They do not spend any money on filling pot holes, reporting them or administering the paperwork.

“Clearly, in a road system that is properly maintained, potholes do not exist and so attract zero cost.

“Food for thought?”

Mr Neal’s comments come as town councillors in Horncastle step up their bid to monitor complaints about roads.

Lincolnshire County Council has rolled out major changes to its highways operations.

It includes a new system for monitoring complaints following claims many issues were previously not followed up.

Horncastle’s county councillor Bill Aron has assured the town council that the new system will lead to improvements.

However, town council chairman Coun Brian Burbidge said he remained ‘very sceptical’ that the changes would work.

Speaking at last month’s town council meeting, Coun Burbidge said: “Like many others, I didn’t have any confidence in the old system and I’m afraid that hasn’t changed. I remain very sceptical that we will see any improvement.”

He added that while the town council acknowledged the county council needed to save money, there was no excuse for complaints not being followed up.

Coun Matthew Wilkinson suggested the town council should ask for a monthly report from Coun Aron,

Coun Wilkinson said: “If we know of 50 issues and 49 are being actioned then great. But, if there are 50 issues and 49 are not being actioned we need to know why.”

Coun Richard Davies, Executive Member for Highways at the County Council, will attend this month’s town council meeting.