Town council calls for 'pothole forum' for Oswestry

Oswestry’s town council will invite representatives of Shropshire Council’s highways team to a “roads, parking and traffic forum”, where problems could be raised for discussion by members of the public.

They say the move comes in response to a range of traffic related issues raised by residents around the town, including potholes and repeated speeding problems.

“Condition of roads, anti-social behaviour in vehicles, parking issues and traffic are all issues that regularly come up on the doorstep across Oswestry,” said Councillor James Owen.

“Given the widespread and ongoing issues across the town, it is perhaps time to consider ways to allow for concerned residents, businesses, and other organisations to be able to raise these issues in one place. This would allow for more voices to be heard and would highlight if any one issue or area affects significantly more people than others.”

A report would then be brought back to the town council afterwards to determine if any issues can be dealt with by local initiatives, and which ones should be prioritised by Shropshire Council, the motion from Councillor Owen recommended.

Councillor Duncan Kerr tabled an amendment to widen out the issue to include public transport-related issues as part of the meeting – which was supported despite some councillors fearing the discussion would become “too broad”.

He also defended Shropshire Council’s record on pothole repairs, arguing that the unitary authority now deals with a higher volume of potholes than ever before and that bringing elements of the service “in-house” had led to faster repair times.

“Certainly a few years ago the situation on potholes by Shropshire Council’s own admission was abysmal,” he said.

“There has been a very dramatic change in the council’s performance on potholes and it’s never going to be perfect – we’re always going to have to report them and we’re always going to have to monitor them. But the idea that against other councils Shropshire Council is doing badly on potholes, the data just doesn’t bear that out.”

The meeting will be arranged over the next six months with residents, businesses and transport interest groups invited to attend, the town council says.