Shropshire Council - Answers Please. Part 4

And here is a post that is something I never thought I would write and that contradicts part 3, because I said that was my last post asking questions of our local authority, Shropshire Council. But after my experiences of the last three days, I’m afraid it’s not, and if things continue, this one isn’t likely to be my last either!

On arriving back into Shifnal on Tuesday, we had to drive up the A4169, or is it the B4379 road? I say that as checking my map app, it gives me both numbers. However, Google Maps only gives me the one, and that’s the A-class number, so that’s what I will call it!

I’ll let you choose

When driving up towards Telford, there was a crew repairing potholes, and on our return they were still there, and I was concentrating more on the situation and my driving than anything else. But having to go back up the same road yesterday morning, there were no workers to be seen, and with the road being quiet, I was able to see some of the work done.

And here is the sad part, but it is the things you can do when you’re retired, with my concerns about Shropshire Council wasting money, and often not able to carry out proper repairs, I decided to cycle up there in the afternoon to see for myself, and hopefully take time to prove my point yet again.

Let’s start by showing some of the photos of what I believe was the work actually done on Tuesday, which is apparent by the freshly laid tarmac, and one by the white painted border. But look at the workmanship? It’s as if the teams don’t have to fill in the whole of the pothole, and they can leave small parts, just as they were before the work started.

Now I am no road engineer, by any means, but in my logical little world, in time, cars will drive over these unfiled parts and they will just eventually corrode and wear away with all the traffic using the road, and meaning an unfilled pothole will need filling again, it will mean another journey to the same pothole, which means more cost, to us the taxpayer, after all it is public money!

At this stage, I would ask anyone interested to maybe read previous posts in this section, on how Shropshire Council waste money, but in the last post, number 3, I have even suggested how money could be saved and repair teams become more productive and effective. It is something we had to continually aim to achieve when working for private companies, and it seems it is something that is totally irrelevant in the public sector, no-one seems to be responsible or accountable!

So other photos, show other work that has been done on an approximate quarter mile stretch of the same road. I have no idea when the work was done, but the theme is pretty much the same. Pot holes repaired, but not properly. Or potholes not touched, right beside other potholes where work has been carried out. Once again meaning that repair teams will have to return to the same area to finish work or do more work! Either way time is money and it is being wasted – and that is a fact!

The road is not in good condition, and there is a 7.5t weight limit on this specific stretch, yet no-one seems to be the slightest bit interested in monitoring this road for HGV usage, contributing to more wear and tear, and probably more potholes, and this happens daily, often by a local company using the route as a shortcut to the nearby industrial estate in Telford, and we wonder why the road is as bad as it is!

On a side note and a side street. Let me take you to Church Street in Shifnal and the recently repaired pothole. You can clearly see the different tarmac and even the freshly cut lines from the saw where the tarmac was to be laid down. So why wasn’t it done right first time? Surely in this day and age we have the knowledge, technology, experience, and tools to fill in a small pothole the first time and make it last. Imagine if we dug up the M6 so soon after laying a new piece of tarmac each time. It would be permanently closed!

How often

So, what does it take to get work done properly? If you’ve read a previous post, you will know I asked the question about hundreds of yards of pavement repairs in Shifnal that had been carried out, even though they don’t seem to have been reported on the ‘fix my street’ portal, and that didn’t all need repairing! Could it have been done by conversations in the canteen at work, maybe in a pub for post-work drinks? It’s certainly possible, is it not?

Yet the problem we had getting slapdash repairs done in my street by a team all the way from Preston only led to me potentially being blocked from contacting the relevant directors and managers. They obviously don’t like hearing about their failings!

It’s a bit like stretches of road out of Kimberton Village. There have been miles of freshly laid smooth tarmac on roads whereby it was not needed to be completely laid with fresh tarmac, and I know this as I cycle these lanes regularly; it’s certainly better than pothole repairs here and there, but we didn’t need the full road re-laid with lovely smooth tarmac or the cost incurred. Maybe there were more drinks in canteens or pubs, who knows!

It seems it’s okay to do lovely fresh repairs here and there that were not called for or not needed, but don’t bother about pavements used quite often by senior citizens!

And before you tell me these things don’t go on, they do. Someone I know with their partner and two young children decided they should go their separate ways. Living in a decent-sized house, she was very quickly rehoused in a nice new house at very short notice and ahead of people who were already on the waiting list, and why? Because her best friend’s husband worked for their local council in the relevant department, Shropshire Council will be pleased to know this did NOT concern them in any way!

And I know personally about it being ‘who you know’ and not ‘what you know.’ Three of my jobs were never advertised, and no other interviews took place. Two were a case of picking the phone up when rumours were floating around; the third was someone ringing me, who was chatting to a customer who needed an operations manager, and I was ready to change jobs, and that was that! Two other jobs were obtained because someone knew someone who knew someone! Both meant the interview process, and again, that was that.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying these things happen in the public sector, but I do know of one maintenance company that benefitted because the boss was very good friends with one of the main directors at a council I know. How do I know? We all played football together, and teammates talk! And of course if it happens in the private sector, it could potentially happen anywhere!

But back to Shropshire Council, David Vasmer said in an interview that, ‘a new council administration which made potholes a priority has filled 21,263 in the nine months since it took control.’ And you will probably say those are impressive numbers. It would impress me more if it continued to say, ‘and more effectively saving the taxpayer money.’ But as already mentioned, this driving around Shropshire here and there filling in repairs is not cost effective and never will be, nor is going back to the same area or the same pothole!

As with most people, we have had an increase in our council tax, and what do I see changing? Nothing! Their costs rise, so our bills have to rise too. Shropshire Council can’t even introduce the new waste food collection service, as they don’t have enough money, as reported on BBC News a few weeks ago!

And courtesy of 'Google,’ we are told - ‘under the UK government’s ‘Simpler Recycling’ reforms, all English councils are required to implement weekly food waste collections for households by 31 March 2026. While this mandate is in force, dozens of councils are delayed due to funding or vehicle shortages, with some not expected to comply until 2039.’

I wonder when we will see ours?

Thanks for reading

DJ