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Wednesday, February 08 2012

Potty potholes idea from councillor Paul Clokie

Ashford council leader Paul ClokieIt may sound like a potty idea - but one councillor's come up with a plan to sort out all the holes in our roads!

Cllr Paul Clokie, Ashford Borough Council leader, is calling for a bizarre scheme to be introduced.....where people can buy potholes!

For a princely sum of £45 people would be able to dig deep to buy the holes in the ground - and then fit a memorial tribute!

The idea has taken off in the German village of Niederzimmern near Leipzig, where villagers can buy a pot hole for 50 euros.

They are then filled with asphalt and a metal plaque with the owner's name or a tribute to a loved one. So far only 52 of the 1,050 residents have dug deep to pay for their holes.

During a discussion about pot holes at Ashford's Joint Transport Board meeting on Tuesday Cllr Clokie, tory councillor for Tenterden, said: "In Germany they have solved this problem because they've been selling potholes as places to remember loved ones. You buy a pothole and then it is filled in along with a marker. I think it's something Kent County Council should look at."

Speaking after the meeting he said: "I think the scheme needs to be examined more closely.Pothole misery for motorists

"You pay 50 euros so the pothole is yours and when they come to fix it you can have a plaque put on top of it.

"It could say 'In memory of Sherry my dog' or something like that.

Truck driver Barry Jupp, 57, from Woodchurch Road, Shadoxhurst, said: "Even on a good day this idea is stupid. If you buy a pothole for £50 and someone comes to fix it, what happens if it opens up again. Do you have to pay another £50?

"There's no way it would work. In my road there are more than a dozen potholes, it's more like a track. It's going to need a big strip pulled up to fix it but if someone wants to pay £50 to have an individual hole fixed that's up to them."

Kent Highways said they have fixed 31,000 pot holes this year. This time last year they had only fixed 9,000.

  • What do you think of this idea? Is it full of holes, or is it on the right track?

 

Thursday, March 11 2010

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  • turn8539 wrote:

    Potholes

    We should adopt the American way;councils supply materials and someone with the knowledge of the repair and then prisons supply the labour instead of prisoners playing conmputer games all day and moaning the mattress is uncomfortable in their cell.This might save some money.

    12 Mar 2010 8:38 AM

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  • shaun wrote:

    Potholes

    My idea for fixing the pot holes is to ask for volunteers or even offenders on community service to work in teams checking each road in there area and fixing them.I would be more than willing to give up some of my spare time just to fix the holes in my road,just so that it doesn't cause anymore damage to my cars susspension and tyres.

    12 Mar 2010 6:47 AM

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  • Robert wrote:

    Pot holes

    Can I have the one in our road and put on it "Rest in peace pot hole 2007-2010". At least I could get in and out of my drive without grounding.

    11 Mar 2010 7:43 PM

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  • Mike wrote:

    In memory of....

    Maybe I could write on my pot hole plaque 'In memory of my beloved £50, i'm sorry I wasted you on a stupid idea'

    11 Mar 2010 4:41 PM

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  • Simon wrote:

    Potty potholes

    Memo to Paul Clokie,
    You should have saved this for April Fools Day, then we could all have fell about laughing...

    11 Mar 2010 3:37 PM

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  • John Moorhouse wrote:

    Potholes in one

    I think the larger issue needs to be addressed. Vehicles, in particular lorries, are much more likely nowadays to be overladen with goods/stock. Our roads were never designed for the huge amount of freight that's being transported now.

    As for the idea itself, it's a non-starter. People are still struggling for money, so at a time when the purse-strings tighten, why would anyone in their right mind waste money on "buying" a pothole?

    11 Mar 2010 3:13 PM

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  • Joe wrote:

    Another brainless scheme

    What on earth are we paying these people for? How about instead of wasting time thinking up new ways to avoid fixing the roads that they just get on and do it. Sod paying them £50 for a pot hole to be fixed, how about paying me for the two split tyres and bent alloy wheels on my car!

    11 Mar 2010 3:07 PM

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  • Blueharbourboy wrote:

    .

    If I buy a few, can I get them holesale ? !!

    11 Mar 2010 2:32 PM

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  • TheAllSeeingEye wrote:

    BONKERS

    What a ridiculous, yet not entirely surprising idea from a councillor. The initial figure of 52 from a possible 1,050 speaks volumes as to the general view of this.
    Are potholes not one of the reasons that we pay road tax?! And as if that wasnt overpriced enough as it is, this idea is now being introduced. BARMY.
    I am almost certain that should you pay for one of these plaques in the road and it becomes dislodged or opens up, that your money will go up in smoke, the plaque wil never see the light of day again, and the pothole will remain in the road until something serious happens.

    Besides, hardly a fitting tribute to a loved one to have cars pile over thier name.

    Ridiculous, mad, DOWNRIGHT CHEEKY to even suggest we pay for it.

    11 Mar 2010 1:59 PM

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