Yahoo News Massive 100m puddle means angry homeowner can't turn right out of driveway
Andy Tebbutt has complained to the council about the huge puddle outside his home in Halling, Kent.
A homeowner says he cannot turn right out of his driveway because there is a 100m-long puddle that the council refuses to fix.
Andy Tebbutt, 59, says the flooded piece of road outside his home in Halling, Kent, is so huge he refuses to call it a pothole.
He has made repeated complaints to his local council about the puddle but claimed it said it wouldn't repair it because it would cost too much.
Tebbutt, a self-employed joiner who built his home himself in the late 1990s, said he is questioning why he is paying £3,500 a year in council tax if he cannot use the public road.
The long puddle has been there the past four winters and is so deep it is difficult to drive a vehicle through it, as it reaches up to the bumpers of most cars.
Tebbutt has called on Medway Council to fix the drainage in order to remove the muddy brown water, which pools when rain comes off the nearby sloping fields.
"At the moment my house rates are £3,500 a year - and I can't turn right out of my road to use this half of the road because it's too flooded," said Tebbutt.
"It's unacceptable for it to get like this. There's no maintenance whatsoever. I've contacted the council and been informed that they can't afford to fix it, so it's not going to be fixed.
"Every time it rains it gets worse and worse. We could have a dry period for probably up to two weeks and it will still be flooded.
"I am fed up with it as it’s a nightmare. It’s not a pothole; it’s at least 100m long and takes up the whole road so you can’t avoid it unless you drive all the way around.
“I have worked hard all my life and I don’t mind paying my tax, but why should I pay my council tax in full if I can’t turn right out of my home?"
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Tebbutt has asked the council to raise the road and install proper drainage to stop it from flooding in future.
A spokesperson for Medway Council told Yahoo News UK: “We are aware that a section of this single-track road is liable to flooding.
"The road runs along the bottom of a sloping field, which is privately owned, and is susceptible to water run-off.
“We commissioned consultants to produce an improvement plan for drainage and the suggested works would have cost more than £300,000.
"With 825km of roads to maintain, and as this is not a main route, unfortunately it would be difficult to justify using the limited budget we have available on the significant investment required and prioritising this road over busier routes.
“We will continue to support the residents who live along this road where we can, which includes attending to try removing as much flood water as possible with the equipment available to us.”
How does UK spending to repair potholes compare to other countries?
Spending to repair potholes in the UK has been reduced by more than several other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) group of "high-income" nations.
According to data published by the Local Government Association (LGA) last summer, the UK spent £4bn on local road maintenance in 2006, but this halved to £2bn in 2019, the last year of comparable data available.
But in countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Austria, the US and Japan, that spending increased by about half over the same period.
Of the 13 countries examined, the UK came 11th in terms of changes in spending on potholes, only ahead of Italy and Ireland.
