Dear Editor,

I READ with interest the tweet you shared from Cllr Russell Perrin in which he shared his ecstasy at the resurfacing of First Mandela Avenue that he claimed in January 2023 “would take place immediately”.  

Whilst our MP and the Head of Highways at Essex County Council may share Cllr Perrin’s ecstasy if he thinks the joy is universal, he may discover there is a hole in his thinking. More than one in fact!

In Spencers Croft it is all but impossible to move around the estate without going over, or rather going up and down, the craters formally known as potholes. To be slightly less parochial the choices on Tumbler Road are how you dodge the potholes without mounting the kerb on one side or swerving into the wrong lane on the other. There are accidents happening and accidents waiting to happen. Getting from Southern Way to First Mandela Avenue has become an escapade worthy of Captain Chaos and his Cannonball Run companions!

I am aware that there is the “promise” of more work on our highways to follow, but as Essex County Council went on the record in December 2022 saying, “filling potholes is not a priority”. In addition, given that ECC’s approach appears still to be to wait until a hole is big enough to plant a begonia before it receives attention (ignoring neighbouring holes that are only suitable for bedding plants!) – such promises sound hollow indeed.

Yours faithfully

Ian Beckett

Harlow