Chron campaign sees 'warzone' village road near Northampton fixed by 'exciting' new pothole repair machine

A campaign led by this newspaper to get a large stretch of village road, full of massive potholes, fixed has been successful.

Described as resembling a 'warzone' by one resident, Road Hill in Harpole had become a daily challenge for hundreds of motorists who must navigate around crater-like potholes.

The Chron campaigned to get the council to act, which it did. In response to the media attention, West Northants Council used its ‘exciting’ new JCB Pothole Pro to address the issue, closing off the road from November 28 to December 1 for repairs to be carried out across a 450sqm stretch.

The council describes the pothole pro as a ‘new and exciting innovative machine set to slash time and costs for road repairs.’ It claims the machine can carry out repairs ‘four times faster’ than standard methods, providing a ‘quality solution.’

Although repairing large portion of the road, there still remains a a few large potholes further on.

Councillor Phil Larratt, cabinet member for highways, said: "We’re delighted to have invested in this ground-breaking technology, which will help achieve the council’s strategy to deliver prompt and lasting pothole repairs. This offers us a new and innovative way to improve the speed with which we can address road surface issues, and we look forward to seeing this in action across West Northamptonshire in the coming months."

The investment in this new technology forms part of the council’s ‘long-term vision’ to improve the road network across the area and follows the Government announcement to invest more than £2.8 million additional funds into WNC’s Highways in 2023/24.

John Coombes, general manager at Kier Transportation, said: “We welcome West Northamptonshire Council’s investment in the JCB Pothole Pro. This addition to the fleet will allow road network improvements to be carried out safely and efficiently, creating less disruption for the general public and providing greater flexibility to best deploy our resources. This is another positive step in our efforts to provide a quality, value-for-money service in the communities we work.”

In other highways news, at a council meeting on November 30, Councillor Larratt was asked to explain why residents were experiencing ‘such heavy traffic’ and congestion around the town, particularly outside schools and hospitals.

Councillor Larratt replied, “Unfortunately, we live in a town with a medieval road network designed on the medieval basis of the design of the town, which really isn't fit for today's traffic. Congestion, unfortunately, on the road network we've got is very difficult to manage. Happy to look at any particular proposals, but we have no intention of instigating a low emission zone area in Northampton to rip off the motorist, as we know that's what the Labour Party wants to do. We have no intention of instigating such a scheme in Northampton.”