Hate potholes. Love complaining.

Amy Golledge

26 September 2011

I hate potholes. We all hate potholes. Driver, cyclist, pedestrian - universally no-one likes a pothole.

On my cycle home every night I dodge a fair number of dangerous gaps in the roads. Some I think have been there since the snow caused havoc back in 2009. It's not just an inconvenience when you're on a bike - potholes can land you in hospital with no front teeth and a hole in your skull.

Recently a colleague shared with me this link - Fill That Hole. It's a website run by CTC - The UK's National Cycling Organisation. On the website is a very easy form which allows you to submit a complaint about your pothole dramas to your local council.

One particular pothole causes me much grief every day so I thought, OK why not, I'll fill in the form. I thought coming from Fill That Hole / CTC might give my complaint some added clout, but I wasn't expecting much. I spent a few minutes doing it and gave it no further thought.  

Less than a week later, I was getting ready to take my bike into the right-hand lane as usual to go round the offending ditch. It was only when I'd reached the end of the road I realised I hadn't had to avoid anything. Worrying that I'd gone slightly mad, I took myself back down the road until I reached the approximate spot of the pothole to find...nothing. The hole was gone. The council had actually done its job and filled it in.

To be honest I'm still in shock that a) it worked and b) it worked really quickly.

So my advice to you is - complain. It works.

Amy Golledge, Communications & Media Team

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