A community group has claimed a north-east coastal village’s roads have been neglected by roads bosses and are now covered in potholes.
Benholm and Johnshaven Community Council said its members had been forced to take their own action to try and prevent cars from being damaged because the roads in Johnshaven are in such a poor state.
The frustrated organisation said it had raised concerns with Aberdeenshire Council, only to be told the Mearns village was not a priority.
But the organisation’s secretary, Chris Greene, said it was only a matter of time before the council was sued by an angry motorist or by a pedestrian that had fallen and injured themselves.
In March, the Press and Journal revealed the authority had settled 146 cases worth almost £50,000 since 2014.
Mr Greene said: “We rarely get any lorry traffic in the village so this is general deterioration that has been allowed to happen over time.
“It’s got so bad that I have bought bags of in-fill to take care of some of the worst holes, but that will only work for so long.
“Even driving around the village this morning there were more appearing.
“The council seems to spend a lot of money on sending people round here to discuss resilience plans and action plans but not to talk about more critical things.
“I’m sure we’re not the only place along the coast that has this problem.
“I have reported it to the roads department but was told that it wasn’t a priority.
“I am fully aware that the council doesn’t have a lot of money but even if they sent someone round to fill them in with tarmac – which would be a short-term fix – until they have the cash for a more long-term solution, that would be something.”
Earlier this year, a petition was launched in the Mearns by a Stonehaven community councillor because of the number of potholes on roads.
Philip McKay, head of roads, landscape and waste services, said the authority had 3,335 miles of roads to maintain and had to take a “risk-based” approach to repairs.
He said: “Regular road inspections are carried out and any road surface defects are recorded and attributed a defect score.
“Road defects located within an urban zone have a lower risk rating than those associated with higher speed rural roads, and so are scored appropriately, allowing repairs to be prioritised accordingly.”
