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County Council leader damages BMW in Beaconsfield pothole
THE LEADER of Buckinghamshire County Council is facing a repair bill of £2100 to his BMW after he damaged two wheels in a pothole in Beaconsfield.
David Shakespeare was driving home through Beaconsfield when he drove into a pothole in Maxwell Road bursting a back and a front tyre last month.
He has said that if the rules allow, he will claim back the repair bill under the county council's insurance.
This has surprised residents from Beaconsfield whose attempts to claim were rejected last year.
Cllr Shakespeare is having to spend £800 each on new wheels and £300 each on new tyres.
He said: "We've had a large number of claims in and there are all sorts of rules. When I've got my invoices I will see."
Cllr Shakespeare said the potholes were "not the council's fault, it's the forces of nature."
He said Bucks had fared worse than other counties because road temperatures had dropped to minus 16C. Because salt cannot stop the freezing process at temperatures lower than minus seven, water that had seeped under the road surface was freezing and causing potholes in hilly Bucks where it might not have in less cold places.
And he revealed that part of the reason for the national salt shortage was that the boring machine at the UK's biggest salt mine in Cheshire - which supplies Bucks' salt - broke down last month stopping production until a part could be brought in from South Africa.
He said: "They lost production for quite a few days."
He said Buckinghamshire now has enough salt to last almost six days of full salting - which is normal stock levels - following deliveries since the thaw.
Stories that Bucks nearly ran out of salt were "compete nonsense" adding that Buckinghamshire County Council had had to give some to Milton Keynes which did run out, he said.
Peter Hodson, of South Drive, Beaconsfield, who along with Alec Murrell of Holtspur tried to claim on BCC's insurance for pothole damage last year, said: "It would be rather ironic if Cllr Shakespeare succeeded, because he would have to prove that the council hadn't done it's job properly. Our claim was rejected because the council had inspected the road in the previous six months."
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If this article is correct and that to win a case for reimbursement of costs for repairing damage caused by a pothole one has to demonstrate that the council had done its job, then I would hope BCC’s insurers reject the claim by Cllr Sheakespeare on the grounds that he as leader of BCC is contributory negligent as leader of a council that failed to adequate maintain our roads. He and his cabinet would set the policy in how our roads are maintained.Years ago when we had periods of bad snow with temperatures dropping below minus 7, I cannot recall there being such a high number of potholes in the roads following the thaw. Then roads were better maintained and were re-surfaced properly. Now everything seems to be contracted out to companies more interested in their profits than serving the community; I dare say there is the added benefit that if the roads are “adequately” re-surfaces as opposed to being “properly “ re-surfaced, roads deteriorate quicker giving more work to the contactors at our expense.
Aye Aye Cap'n...I heartily concur!!
I have lived in a 3rd World Country (South Africa) and to be honest, the Roads there are a million times better laid out and maintained than the dross that passes for ours over here!