Lib Dem councillor calls for volunteers to fill potholes and admits 'we don't have enough money to do the job'

Published: 10:50, 21 May 2026 | Updated: 10:58, 21 May 2026 A Lib Dem councillor has appealed for taxpayers to fill in their own potholes - and even created a glossy handbook to help them. Louise Wainwright, a councillor for Devon County Council, has claimed the only way to tackle the enormous backlog of unfilled potholes is if volunteers roll up their sleeves and do it themselves.  Devon County Council is currently controlled by a minority Liberal Democrat administration, although Ms Wainwright, who represents Salcombe, is not a cabinet member.    She has nonetheless produced a 23-page manual that includes detailed instructions on carrying out repairs and undertaking health and safety training. The councillor said everyone 'must work together to tackle the appalling state of our roads' as county councils do not have the money to do repair work.  Ms Wainwright went as far as claiming pothole-fixing volunteers would become 'local heroes' who would receive 'big pats on the back' from grateful fellow citizens.  'We are all angry about the appalling state of our roads when our council tax keeps going up,' she said.  'I am angry too. I have done something about it. 'If more of us understood why this situation has been allowed to develop, then we could begin to understand what we can do about it. 'County councils can no longer protect our roads anywhere because consecutive governments of all parties have imposed punitive budget cuts to the annual grants to all county councils. 'This gross under-funding has precipitated the deterioration of the roads. 'We don't have enough money to do the job.' Louise Wainwright, who represents Salcombe on Devon County Council, has produced a 23-page manual that includes detailed instructions on carrying out pothole repairs Her manual, called the Devon Parish Pothole Handbook, is for 'small but agile armies of volunteers' who will 'hold back the deterioration of our country lanes' The volunteers are told to set up traffic management signs, brush out the debris inside the pothole, spray emulsion into it and use fresh cold-lay material to over-fill the pothole  Almost 10,000 potholes were reported to Devon County Council in February, after a period of winter storms Ms Wainwright said she wanted to build on a little-known Road Wardens Scheme introduced in Devon in 2017, where parish councils trained up local volunteers to clear out and fill in small potholes on minor roads. But only about a third of parishes signed up to the county council-funded scheme, which has not been introduced anywhere else in the country. She said the volunteers all received health and safety training and could not do repairs on roads above the 30mph speed limit. Volunteers will be provided with free cold lay material and equipment to tackle potholes under 12ins wide or 1.5ins deep. All potholes larger than that remain the responsibility of the county council's highways department. Ms Wainwright said: 'Volunteer road wardens are provided with free equipment, specialist safety training and insurance before they step out on the roads. 'You don't need a massive army of volunteers...at least six people in each of the small rural parishes to go out and fix local small potholes on minor roads. 'They would get big pats on the back from the local community and become local heroes. 'This would allow the county council highways department to concentrate on the larger potholes. 'It is really important that this is done this summer because any repairs to potholes in the winter are likely to only be a temporary fix as they will wash out. 'Now we must work together to rebuild our roads.' Her manual, called the Devon Parish Pothole Handbook, is for 'small but agile armies of volunteers' who will 'hold back the deterioration of our country lanes.' It states that the road wardens will get PPE, traffic management equipment like signs and bollards, tools like spades, wheelbarrows and hand tamping bars and the materials The volunteers are told to set up traffic management signs, brush out the debris inside the pothole, spray emulsion into it and use fresh cold-lay material to over-fill the pothole to 1.5 x the depth of pothole and use bitumen spray to coat the surface. They must then use the hand tamping bar to firm down the pothole, continuing to 'vigorously bang down until the sound changes to a firm 'thud'. Another bitumen spray coat should then be added to the surface of the finished layer. So far 135 of the 426 parishes in Devon have signed up to the initiative. Almost 10,000 potholes were reported to Devon County Council in February, after a period of winter storms. The RAC revealed that pothole-related breakdowns rose by 15 per cent in 2025, with 26,048 incidents attended costing the average driver around £500 in repairs. The government has pledged £7.3 bn to road maintenance including fixing potholes across England. Should local communities be expected to fix their own roads when councils run out of money? What's your view? 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