Goostrey villagers welcome temporary pothole repairs on Hermitage Lane

Incensed Goostrey residents nicknamed a road ‘The Somme’ as they say it looked like a battlefield scarred with shell holes.

Drivers said they were fed up complaining about the dangers posed by potholes on Hermitage Lane and Blackden Lane.

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Cheshire East Council’s highways team has now filled several large holes with filler as a temporary measure to ensure road safety.

Potholes on Hermitage Lane have been temporarily repaired with filler (Image: John Williams)

Blackden Lane awaits the same treatment.

However, residents fear this could take much longer as investigations have revealed this road is unstable between Bridge House and Brookside.

One resident said: “Last year, after complaints about the road and fear of damage to property from constant vibrations from passing vehicles, United Utilities undertook a camera inspection of the main sewer.

Goostrey villagers welcome temporary repairs on potholes (Image: John Williams)

“The inspection revealed the sewer had not collapsed and the problem was the road maintained by the council which was sinking probably due to shifting sand in the area.”

At the top of Church Bank at its junction with Station Road and Main Road, residents say the surface is breaking up again despite several attempts to patch over the surface with a temporary filler.

Cllr Mark Goldsmith, chairman of the highways and transport committee, said issue of potholes was not unique to Cheshire East and they were worse at this time of the year as ‘we come out of winter.”

Cllr Goldsmith said: “We absolutely understand the frustrating that potholes can cause and we’re working hard to tackle the increase of them in our borough.

“We’re committed to keeping our roads safe and we’re using our limited budgets in the best possible way.

“The increase in potholes at this time of year means we may not be able to respond to defects as quickly as we’d like, but we’ve increased the number of teams working to carry out pothole and patching repairs.

"Our aim is to carry out permanent repairs on road defects, but sometimes that is not possible and so some of the repairs we make are temporary to make sure that the road is safe.

“In the case of Hermitage Lane and Blackden Lane, Goostrey, we continue to inspect the roads in line with our code of practice and have recently carried out pothole repairs where defects have been identified.”