READERS should not be surprised at the state of our roads – Balfour the council’s contractors are certainly not.

Remember the words of our MP, who, when the Balfour contract was signed, championed the deal. This was the contract to eliminate once and for all the inherited problems of bad council management.

But judge for yourself the quality of Balfour’s management, the evidence is there. Repeated layers of asphalt, far too thin to withstand the loading factor of vehicles using the roads, add to that the clear signs that no blending layer of tar has been added, the purpose of which is to hold the two layers together as they move and warp with the passage of the cars over them.

Certainly in the past during my chairmanship of The Southampton Public Works Committee, these are two actions that would have not been tolerated!

Then we come to the policy decision that no hole be repaired unless it is at least two inches deep, not withstanding the fact that in many cases there are very clear signs of decay literally inches from the repair, that will inevitably lead to the repaired hole falling into the adjacent ruts.

In the photograph above the proposed repair, could have been foreseen and dealt with at the same time as the repair immediately on its left hand, just as you would lack foresight, not repairing the area to the right of the proposed repair. Clear evidence to back that statement can be seen on the right, a square of tarmac with at least six reinstatement’s all of which could have been foreseen, and done in one operation and there fore considerably cheaper overall.

How long, you might ask, before the contagion spreads unattended. If more care had been taken at the start of the Balfour contract, we would not be in the position we presently face!

Perhaps Royston Smith would like to explain!

Name and address supplied