Tax Windfall to Tackle Potholes?

While the snow and ice has disappeared, what is left behind are hundreds of potholes and cracked roadway and footway surfaces across the borough. While the freezing conditions and subsequent thaw is a major factor in creating potholes, the more significant reason is years of underfunding of our local roadwork. Rather than a continual cycle of pothole repairs, what is really needed is a long-term programme of whole road resurfacing. Of course, this cost a lot of money, which the Council doesn’t have. However, it has emerged that the Treasury has benefitted from an income tax windfall of £7.5bn as a result of better than expected receipts from January’s self-assessment tax returns. Just a portion of this unplanned windfall would go a very long way towards funding a sustainable, reliable and safe programme of road network resurfacing for councils across the land, and not least of all Havering! We shall be making a case for this at the earliest opportunity.

Cllr Clarence Barrett