It could be the issue which decides next month's local elections - potholes. Labour and the Conservatives both claim they will fix them, but who should we believe?
Labour has today announced 'Operation 20,000' as they claim they will fill in 20,000 of them over the next 12 months, whilst local Conservatives claim the plan is simply 'a gimmick' which 'underlines the need for change'.
'Operation 20,000' has been revealed today by the Labour-led Milton Keynes Council and is set for its official launch on April 16th.
Labour officials claim the plan will see 20,000 potholes filled in over the next 12 months. They say this is made possible thanks to a new ‘Jetpatcher’ machine which will allow rapid progress to be made to tackle the pothole problem.
Cllr Martin Gowans, Cabinet Member for Highways said: "Getting to grips with the pothole problem across Milton Keynes has been difficult. We are now overcoming the lack of funding and some poor inherited practices to launch our ‘Operation Target 20,000 potholes’ on April 16."
"We will be able to achieve 20,000 potholes in the next 12 months thanks to the new equipment and change in approach. There has been a lot of misinformation about the pothole problem locally. I believe our new approach will start to address the pothole problem caused by years of under investment as a result of Government funding cuts."
But the plans are being criticised by local Milton Keynes Conservative Leader Cllr Alex Walker who are says it "demonstrates their lack of leadership and underlines the need for change in Milton Keynes".
He added: "They have had 4 years to take action on potholes and they have failed. They have failed to spend £450k of ring-fenced Government funding just for potholes and voted to scrap the 28 day limit on repairs leaving more potholes on our roads for longer. That's their record. A gimmick four weeks before an election won't fool anyone."
Meanwhile, a local source has told MKFM that they understand the Council has allocated £450,000 to fill in 20,000 potholes, which would put the cost of repair at around £20 per pothole.
The source added: "If I knew it was that cheap, I would have gone to B&Q or Wickes and had several done myself."
Potholes are a hot topic with the local public, as an MKFM Facebook post about the topic recently demonstrated the level of anger amongst residents at the current situation.
The recent cold spell has also made the pothole situation worse, with the topic being heavily featured on local community Facebook groups too.
