Over the past few weeks, like many of you, I have been watching the Winter Olympics. It has been fantastic to see Team GB performing so strongly on the world stage. To come away with medals across multiple disciplines is a huge achievement and something the whole country can be proud of.
Watching the athletes push themselves to the limit is always inspiring. The speed of the toboggans hurtling down the ice tracks, swerving from side to side at breathtaking pace, certainly gets the heart racing. I must admit, at one point it reminded me of driving along Lytham Road in Warton. Except in this case, the swerving is not for sport, but for safety and to avoid the huge craters in the road surface.
Fylde residents would win multiple gold medals for pothole avoidance. It has become second nature to zig zag down our roads, scanning for craters and broken surfaces. Lytham Road in particular is in a shocking state, but there are many others across Fylde that are not much better.
We all understand that roads take a hammering over winter. Freeze and thaw, heavy rain and constant traffic all contribute to wear and tear. But we were promised by the new regime at County Hall that potholes would be fixed.
Instead, many feel the situation has deteriorated further. It is not good enough for people who rely on these roads every single day to get to work, school and local businesses.
When Conservatives were running the County Council, we secured hundreds of millions of pounds in investment for new and improved infrastructure. That funding delivered major projects such as Lytham St Annes Way, the Western Distributor Road connecting the M55 to Lea Gate around Preston as well as the new section of the A585 from Windy Harbour to Poulton. Across Fylde, we saw significant resurfacing programmes that made a real difference to local journeys.
Yet that momentum appears to have stalled. Investment has slowed and routine maintenance is not keeping pace with the problem. Good roads are not a luxury. They are essential. That’s why I have written again to Lancashire County Council to press for immediate repairs across Fylde. Let us see what response we get.
If we can cheer on our athletes to strive for gold on the ice, surely we can expect the same ambition when it comes to delivering decent roads here in Fylde.
