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Penis paintings around potholes ‘less offensive than council failing to do repairs’

“Driving into Wivenhoe is now an obstacle course, at least this new graffiti marks out the potholes to avoid”

The leader of Colchester Council says that while penis paintings around potholes may offend some people, “being let down for months and months by Essex County Council is more offensive to me.”

We’ve previously reported on ‘Wanksy’, a North Manchester campaigner who goads his local council into repairing potholes by painting penises around them.

It’s happened in Surrey too.

The Daily Gazette reports that similar graffiti appeared around several potholes in Wivenhoe over the weekend.

Wivenhoe ward councillor Mark Cory said his main issue was Essex County Council failing to address the road defects.

“I have reported these potholes over the past year,” he said. “They filled some, but left many to grow larger and more dangerous.

“Driving into Wivenhoe is now an obstacle course. At least this new graffiti marks out the potholes to avoid. It is unacceptable Essex County Council had to be shamed into action.”

He suggested Colchester Council should be handed responsibility for road repairs.

An Essex Highways spokesman said the penis graffiti wouldn’t get the potholes any higher up the jobs list.

“Drawing pictures around defects in a road can be both distractingly dangerous to drivers and offensive to passers-by, especially children.

“It doesn’t make any difference to our road maintenance priorities as we deal with defects using a risk assessment process that enables us to deal with the worst problems first.

“Essex Highways will be sending engineers out imminently to do some ‘make safe’ repairs to some of the potholes in the road.

“Whilst there we will also seek to disguise or remove the offending images.”

Research from Cycling UK shows that pothole claims from cyclists cost councils 25 times more to settle in terms of compensation and legal costs than those from motorists.

This is because while motorists are likely to be claiming for damage to vehicles, cyclists are far more likely to seek be seeking compensation for injury.

The charity says that on average, claims from cyclists cost £88,000 to settle, with £45m in total paid out during the past five years.

However, if highway authorities can argue they didn't know about a defect, a cyclist may struggle to win a claim for compensation.

Cycling UK therefore recommends that road users report defects to the relevant authorities via their Fill That Hole app and website.

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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11 comments

Avatar
Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
0 likes

Write 'white power' on it. Instant fix. 

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ktache replied to Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
3 likes

See Rick knows how to do it properly.

His posts are a little bit on the wrong side of offensive, but there is thought in there and hopefully some humour.

Unlike the 2 new oddities who really don't seem to be putting any real effort in.

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Hirsute replied to ktache | 4 years ago
0 likes

I can reveal that rich is John Zimnoch (see Private Eye 1531 p24)

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maviczap | 4 years ago
0 likes

Every time I've reported a pothole either in Suffolk or Essex using Fill that Hole app it's been done. It has to be said the holes in Essex are the worst

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Hirsute replied to maviczap | 4 years ago
0 likes

Seems unlikely given it is about the driest place and does not get much snow/ice.

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Karbon Kev | 4 years ago
0 likes

Quite amusing, I know Wivenhoe, little old place.

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NZ Vegan Rider | 4 years ago
2 likes

Why don't they do Vagina paintings around them ; they are holes afterall.

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ktache | 4 years ago
3 likes

The Essex Highway spokesperson does make some very contradicktory statements-

“It doesn’t make any difference to our road maintenance priorities as we deal with defects using a risk assessment process that enables us to deal with the worst problems first.

“Essex Highways will be sending engineers out imminently to do some ‘make safe’ repairs to some of the potholes in the road.

With that level of talent, No10 or the White House will be calling...

It would seem that the budding Wanksys or Jackson Bollox have a great effect.

And there was a better picture.

It shows a rather large one...

Avatar
0-0 | 4 years ago
5 likes

The story starts with "penis" and ends in "fill that hole".
Well played Road CC  3

Is reporting a hole to Fill That Hole more effective than than contacting any local council, or are they both a waste of battery power on my wireless keyboard?
I've tried reporting holes to the council, but... you can guess the rest.

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jh2727 replied to 0-0 | 4 years ago
2 likes

Reporting holes to the council may not result in a repair, but it does increase the chance of the council being held liable (which in turn, should eventually result in quicker repair).

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brooksby replied to jh2727 | 4 years ago
3 likes

Isn't that the point of Fill that Hole, that there's an external record of what councils have been informed about and (often more importantly) when, so they start worrying about looking responsible when someone comes off and ends up under a bus...

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