Several Labour councillors including Luci Ashbourne in the picture have been trained as super users to measure, mark and report potholes and other footpath and road faults to the County Council. Every year we highlight the backlog of work that is needed to keep our roads and verges safe. What we need is action not words on this, so we will keep the state of West Oxfordshire roads high on the County to-do list.

Update Apr 2023 – County only gets a third of what is needed to fix potholes, and borrows another third. Even with extra cash in this year’s budget we are not funded by the government to do the job people rightly expect – after harsh cold snaps this Christmas our crews are working valiantly to fix our roads, but we need a change of government to do the job properly, not Conservative cuts and austerity. According to the Pothole Tracker Survey (commissioned by KwikFit) the cost of pothole damage to British drivers and riders is calculated at £1.7 billion in 2022, up 35% from the previous year. And then there’s the personal and financial costs (eg to the NHS) when cyclists and motorcyclists have been unnecessarily injured crashing into potholes

The Witney Land Army founded by Councillor Vicky Gwatkin has been carrying out regular litter picks, as have various councillors including Andrew Coles (pictured) across town.

Councillor Duncan Enright walks his area reporting potholes and pavement greenery on a regular basis, and ran a “sponsored run” to highlight the problem with potholes, leading to some improvement (though they come back every winter!) He is pictured with national campaigner “Mr Pothole”.