Potholes – Message from Leader of Hampshire County Council, Cllr Nick Adams-King

🚧 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐄’𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐒 — 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐖𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐍’𝐓 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 “𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄”
Hampshire’s roads have taken an absolute battering this winter. Weeks of relentless rain and violent freeze–thaw cycles have ripped open the surface across the county. Potholes are appearing faster than crews can fill them.

Here’s the blunt truth:
We simply don’t have the money to maintain the roads to the standard we all want.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦
Cost to bring roads up to the standard I’d want: £600 million
Highways budget this year: £60 million
£540 million shortfall
No amount of “efficiency” fills a gap like that.

💷 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞
Social care and education costs are exploding — and Hampshire is hit harder than most:
– By 2030, nearly 5% of residents will be over 80
– More children with Special Educational Needs than average
– Rising demand for disability support
– These services are legally required. If someone qualifies, we must provide care.
– And now Government ‘Fair Funding’ is removing almost £40million from our budgets and sending it to mostly Labour run councils in London and the midlands and north.

📉 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 𝐓𝐚𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲
Band D Council Tax paid to Hampshire: £1,609  
Surrey: £1,846  
West Sussex: £1,800  
Oxfordshire: £1,911
We’ve had lower Council Tax for years — but that means less money for roads.
You can’t run a high‑maintenance network on a low‑tax budget.

🛠️ 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰
Here’s how the system actually works:
1️⃣ Every report triggers an inspection — councillors and residents use the same system.
2️⃣ Safety defects come first — A‑roads and B‑roads before residential streets and country lanes.
3️⃣ Temporary repairs are often unavoidable — asphalt won’t bond in cold, wet weather.
4️⃣ Permanent repairs take 7× longer — so crews make more locations safe first.
5️⃣ Non‑safety defects are queued — tackled when weather and resources allow.
And yes — some temporary repairs fail in this weather. If they do, please re‑report them.

🌧️ 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥
We’ve had 156% of our average January rainfall
February’s average rainfall was exceeded in the first week alone
Repeated freeze–thaw cycles
Some potholes appear overnight. Others worsen within hours.

🏛️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞
Hampshire faces a £500m highways funding gap
Government funding this year: £30m
We matched it — still nowhere near enough
Only a tiny fraction of road tax and fuel duty goes to road maintenance
Hampshire’s roads are better than many neighbours, but roads across the South East — and even motorways — are in dire condition.
This is a national crisis, not a local failing.

🔧 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰
We’ve secured extra resources:
– More Jet/Dragon Patchers
– Extra patching gangs (started 12 Jan, more added end of Jan)
– More drainage jetting machines
– A dedicated flooding response team
– Extra white‑lining crews
Temporary infills will be used where needed to keep roads safe. Permanent repairs will follow when conditions improve.
We’re funding this by using underspends in other areas.

📈 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭
We’re reshaping the 2026/27 budget to move every possible penny into road maintenance — likely £10m extra for summer repairs.
And we’ve launched plans for a lane‑rental disruption charge:
Companies pay a daily fee for roadworks on key routes
Encourages shorter, better‑planned works
Could raise up to £5m a year for road maintenance

📲 How you can help

Please report potholes — especially worsening ones — via the official system:
https://www.hants.gov.uk/transport/roadmaintenance/roadproblems/potholes
Accurate locations and photos help enormously.
And thanks to you for your patience, it’s a very difficult situation and we are doing our absolute best.