A “growing” pothole near a South London train station is reportedly damaging cars on a regular basis with one driver saying he forked out over £1,000 for new shock absorbers.
Drivers say the now notorious pothole near Reedham Station in Croydon has damaged their cars as they have tried to access their homes or the station at the end of the road.
The housing association responsible for the road has been criticised for “dragging their feet” on repairs, despite apparently being aware of the issue for months.
The pothole, which first appeared in April, is located on Watney Close, a cul-de-sac serving Reedham Station. Despite its relative calm outside peak times, the road serves hundreds of flats, all of which must pass over a badly damaged former speed bump at the bottom of the street.
During a visit to the area, residents told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that damage caused by the pothole has become a daily problem.
Stewart Hastings, who lives in a cottage at the end of the road, said: “I’ve never seen a pothole this big. Everyone has their own strategy for driving over it.
“I was coming home from work once and saw a van stop after going over it. I thought he was here to fix it, but he told me he felt something snap. His steering gave out, and he couldn’t move the van. He was stuck there.”
Fellow Watney Close resident John Areola was carefully lining up his car for safe passage over the pothole during our visit. He told the LDRS: “I’ve literally just come back from the garage in Crawley.
“I had to get new shock absorbers fitted after going over this so many times. I paid over £1,000 for them and had to take a day off work.”
‘Mixed messages’
Purley and Woodcote Councillor Samir Dwesar said that since discovering the pothole earlier this year, he has been inundated with requests from residents to get it fixed and prevent further vehicle damage.
However, he told the LDRS that efforts to resolve the issue have been hampered by what he called “mixed messages” from the landowner, London and Quadrant Housing (L&Q), which owns the properties along the road and is responsible for its maintenance.
According to Cllr Dwesar, it initially took time to confirm L&Q’s responsibility, and even longer for the housing association to acknowledge it once it had been established.
“Since May, they’ve sent conflicting messages to residents, our MP, and myself,” he said. “The council has been very clear that the responsibility for dealing with this pothole lies with L&Q.”
As recently as July 10, L&Q told Cllr Dwesar that its legal team required evidence of which residents had raised the issue. They also suggested that Croydon Council might share some responsibility due to the road’s access to the nearby train station and requested contact details for relevant council officers to discuss the matter further.
While L&Q has since accepted responsibility for the road, it has not provided residents with a timeline for repairs. In an email to a local resident, the association declined to confirm a repair date, stating it was “a complicated job due to the legalities involved with the local authority and regulators”.
‘They’ve dragged their feet’
Frustrated by the ongoing delays, Cllr Dwesar asked whether Croydon Council could carry out the repairs and bill L&Q. However, the council’s financial pressures and the number of potholes across the borough meant this was not feasible.
“For L&Q to claim that there are legalities involved with the local authority and regulators is baffling,” said Cllr Dwesar. “They’ve dragged their feet on this for far too long, letting down their own residents and the wider community.”
He added: “I’ve spent so much time on this one issue. It didn’t need to drag on this long. It’s really not complicated. We just want it fixed.”
The situation has also caught the attention of Croydon South MP Chris Philp, who has been supporting efforts to resolve the issue. “After working closely with Cllr Dwesar on this, I completely agree that it has taken L&Q far too long to fix this hole,” he said.
He added: “It’s their private land, and I’m very disappointed it has taken them so long to recognise this and act. I urge them to resolve this as quickly as possible.”
The pothole has continued to worsen over the past four months, residents say.
Locals have even resorted to placing plastic sheets or removing loose bricks in an attempt to ease the damage, but as John noted: “It doesn’t make much of a difference. We’ve got no choice but to drive over it slowly.”
David Lewis, Executive Director of Property Services at L&Q, said: “We’re sorry that residents on Watney Close have had problems with a damaged road surface and we apologise for the time it’s taken to put things right, and the inconvenience this has caused.
“The delays have been due to complications in confirming who is responsible for repairs to Watney Close, which have only very recently been resolved. We will now be mending the road surface as quickly as possible, with our contractors due to start on site this week.”
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