Potholes plugged with £430,000 boost

POTHOLE repair work in Oldham has been given a £430,000 boost, which could potentially fix 8,000 holes across the borough.

The funding is Oldham Council’s share of £168 million national pothole repair fund announced in April.

Councillor Dave Hibbert, Oldham council’s cabinet member for housing, planning and transport, said: “Oldham’s roads suffered due to the extreme weather. Last December Transport Minister Robert Goodwill visited Oldham and was impressed by our priority repairs programme. After that we received a significantly higher funding award than many other local authorities.”

Oldham received over £800,000.

Councils were asked in April to apply for extra money from the £168million pothole pot.

“Following our successful bid this extra money will be used to accelerate that project,” said Councillor Hibbert.

This year Oldham’s total funding of over £1,2m is the largest of all the Greater Manchester authorities - but Oldham’s high position means the borough has a greater problem than most with roads damaged by freezing weather.