The BBC has reported that the County Councillor in charge of highways in Essex has tried to claim for damage to his own car:
Rodney Bass, the councillor in charge of highways at Essex County Council said some of the county’s roads were in a ‘dreadful’ state.
Speaking to BBC Essex, he went on to reveal he had damaged his own vehicle on what he called a ‘serious’ defect.
He said his compensation claim for the damage had been turned down….
Meanwhile Lib Dem County Councillor David Kendall has been doing some digging. He tells us:
I recently put a question into Essex County Council regarding pothole compensation claims and the amount of money paid out over the last four financial years. I was shocked to see that over the last four years there have been 7584 claims but only 731 claims actually paid out for the same period. That means there are 6,583 angry and frustrated motorists out there who have got nothing after claiming compensation for damage sustained to either their vehicles or to themselves. It is interesting to note that for the same period the County Council have had to pay out ?631k in compensation to those motorists who have somehow managed to overcome all the obstacles put in their way to get a just settlement.
“Rodney Bass, the councillor in charge of highways at Essex County Council, said some of the county’s roads were in a “dreadful” state”
Perhaps I am missing something but I read this that Mr Bass is in charge of highways at ECC. ECC Highways are responsible for maintaing our roads. Mr Bass has sued the department that he is in charge of for damage to his car due to ECC Highways failing to maintain the roads.
So the man in charge of maintaining the roads of Essex is effectively admitting that he is not doing his job properly. He could have done this quietly or privately but no, he decides to tell his story on the BBC.
I despair I really do.
So the big question is what will happen to Rodney Bass. Probably nothing as it will be spun that it is our fault for not paying enough tax, necessary austerity cuts or daring to actually use the roads or something similar and all will carry on as normal and the “Government” will still wonder why there is a disconnect between it and the people.
I reported a problem via “Fix My Street” 6 months ago but nothing has happened, so I emailed Cllr Bass and got the following automated response which speaks for itself:
“Thank you for your e-mail
If you are reporting or chasing a local Highways issue or a defect or a pothole please do so via your local County Member as I cannot deal with your enquiry personally and will only respond to County Councillors.
If your enquiry is on a broader Highways issue or another matter or from a County Councillor I will respond as soon as possible.
Cllr Rodney L Bass CC
Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation”
Brian,
There was a post on this website back in 2012 detailing the roads that were due to be fixed. Completion was expected by May 2013.
https://www.onlinefocus.org/?p=9950
Thanks Jason – their estimate seems to have slipped a bit. As the kerbstone is part of the pavement, it will become an even bigger risk once the street lights are turned off!