Fixing the roads once and for all
Trafford's roads are amongst the worst in the country. Potholes and road disintegration are rightly flagged as residents' top concerns time and time again. Trafford Council are failing in the basic task of maintaining our highways, and the Conservatives are therefore proposing a cost-effective solution which will save Trafford Council money, fix our roads quicker, and more efficiently. Councillor Nathan Evans, the Leader of Trafford Conservatives, has sent in a 43-page amendment to Trafford Council 2024/2025 budget with a plan to fix the roads once and for all. The Conservatives are proposing that Trafford Council make use of the JCB Pothole Pro - a revolutionary piece of equipment which dramatically cuts the cost of road repairs, and does a better job than the antiquated methods currently used in Trafford, in a fraction of the time.
Cllr Evans says: “The borough's roads have made the top ten for worst roads in the North West. Labour's plan is to focus on surface dressing - papering over the cracks - a costly, short-term method that isn’t working. And residents realise this’’.
Nathan, along with the Parliamentary Candidate for Altrincham and Sale West, Oliver Carroll, went to see the Pothole Pro in action, where it has been used to outstanding effect in Stoke. They saw for themselves how these machines could repair potholes in less than eight minutes – four times quicker than standard methods and at half the cost.
Following the demonstration, Cllr Nathan Evans spoke with JCB the manufacturer, JCB’s local distributor, and the Dawson group, one of the country's largest hirers, who had themselves ordered 50 Pothole Pros for deployment with councils up and down the country.
Cllr Evans said: “Our disintegrating roads are an issue that gets raised by residents every day, and they are fed up with the council's make-do-and-mend approach. That is why the Conservative group in Trafford have put forward this fully costed plan. We are interested in solutions, not endless hand-wringing as Labour seems to prefer.
Cllr Evans went on to say, “It is time Trafford Labour went to the trouble to think about how effectively they’re going to turn the money that they have set aside already, and the additional share of the money that will be made available as part of the HS2 reallocation from the government, into actually fixing the roads once and for all. Using innovative solutions, such as the Pothole Pro, which the council can hire or buy.
This is a positive, fast, cost-saving, quality solution to get Trafford Labour out of the giant pot-hole they have dug themselves into - and we hope Labour accept our prudent and robust financial amendment. Where Labour fail, we will provide the solutions people need across our borough."
