Villagers told to pay ￡73,000 to end UK’s longest-running pothole row
Villagers have been told they must pay ￡73,000 to end a dispute over potholes that has gone on for at least 64 years.
The residents of Furneux Pelham, Herts, are locked in what is believed to be the UK’s longest-running potholes row over 125m-long Whitebarns Lane, which links the main road to a cul-de-sac.
Hertfordshire county council maintains that the lane, which now has 32 potholes, is a footpath – not a road. That means it is not eligible for resurfacing at public expense unless it is “adopted” by the council as a public road.
But the local authority has told villagers that they will have to pay out of their own pockets to make the lane “adoptable”, with the latest quote coming in at ￡73,000.
Sarah Wright, 59, said the council never resurfaces the road and instead only fills the potholes with loose gravel because it is categorised as a footpath.
“They fill it with road chippings on a regular basis and the chippings come out of the potholes if it rains, making the surface even more dangerous,” she said.
“People have been injured. We’ve known people to fall over and cut their face, smash their glasses.
“An elderly grandmother fell and hit her face on the ground while she was walking with her grandchildren. She broke her glasses and it was really distressing.
“The elderly people are petrified to use the lane in case they fall and hurt themselves. We’ve had ambulances refuse to come down the road. Children topple over walking up the lane to go to school.”
A 1980 newspaper report in the Herts Mercury referred to calls to resurface the road as a “20-year campaign”, suggesting it first started in 1960.
Ms Wright added: “We’re going to see more injuries, more damage to people’s vehicles and a huge expense to the council.
“We want to see policies that ensure it is going to be maintained going forward and that we’re not in this position every 20 years.”
Douglas Debnam, a pensioner whose eyesight is affected by macular degeneration, said the road’s designation as a public footpath made little sense.
“They’re copping a fair few quid in council tax and then ask us to pay for it,” the 79-year-old said.
“The council should pay. They can’t say it is a public footpath when I have to move out of the way for cars and tractors.”
Mr Debnam uses a white cane to get around in public and sees most things at a distance just as object outlines.
Potholes are becoming uncountable
“I have to watch where I am walking with the potholes so I don’t trip into them,” he said.
“You’ve got to walk through all of these potholes and they’re getting to a point where they are uncountable because one is going into another.
“We’re getting quite annoyed over it as people who should be doing something about it are not.”
Diana Perigoe, 72, has lived down Whitebarns Lane for seven years and says she stopped driving because the potholes are a “nightmare”.
Before she stopped, Ms Perigoe’s car suffered two burst tyres because of the lane.
“I had enough and decided to give up driving,” she said. “I had to keep repairing my car as the potholes were ruining it.
“It was costing me a lot to repair my car and as a lone female, you don’t always get the best deal.
“It’s worse this time of year with the rain and the snow. All of us down this road want something that is safe to walk and drive on.”
A spokesman for Hertfordshire county council said the lane could only be adopted and maintained if it was brought “up to an acceptable standard”.
“It would potentially be possible to adopt Whitebarns Lane as a public road, but only if the landowner, or the residents living along the lane, were able to bring it up to an acceptable standard,” the spokesman said.
“We have offered to contribute towards the cost of the necessary works.
“In the meantime, we will continue to maintain Whitebarns Lane as a public footpath.”