Cambridge residents play pothole golf to show roads are well below par

Residents of a Cambridge street have been playing pothole golf outside their homes to highlight the dangerous state of the road.

The impromptu game was organised by Mill Road hairdresser Piero D’Angelico, who was teed off after earlier attempts to get Cambridgeshire County Council to fix the more than 130 potholes that blight Cromwell Road seemed to sink without trace. Piero even persuaded a local county councillor to join in.

In January, he had tried another stunt to get the council’s attention, planting Christmas trees in the potholes, but to no avail.

Piero said: “We had a great time playing golf down the street on Monday — there were enough holes for everyone to enjoy a game and we were out there for more than three hours. Many of my neighbours joined in and people driving past even stopped their cars to have a go.

“There was a real community spirit because we are all affected by this mess — I have lived on the street for 25 years and can’t ever remember seeing a pothole being fixed. We were told it would be sorted four weeks ago and we were planning to hold a street party to celebrate afterwards. But it still hasn’t happened. They will need to resurface the whole road as they can’t possible fix all of the holes individually.

“I came up with the idea of playing golf as something fun to do with my neighbours over the bank holiday weekend and we all enjoyed ourselves. It turns out pothole golf is harder than it looks — even though the holes are really big! The balls just keep bouncing out again.”

The council’s website explains: “Only deep potholes on busy A roads and main distributor roads that cause a danger to the public will be treated as an emergency.”

Cllr Neil Shailer (Lab, Romsey) also took part in the street golf game as he lives locally. He is vice chair of the county’s highways and transport committee, which is responsible for potholes.

He said: “I can’t just ask the contractors to fix the potholes on my street, that would be corrupt. But this repair does need doing and it is now set to happen on May 9. It was due to take place last month but there was a mistake because the signs did not go up in time warning people of the roadworks so it had to be cancelled.

“The golf game was a good way to engage with the community about this issue. At first we were using golf clubs but later we tried a sledgehammer and metal balls from a boules set.

“I don’t want to make light of the situation, however. Potholes can cause serious accidents and are a problem for pedestrians and cyclists as well as drivers.”

A county council spokesperson confirmed: “The work to repair the potholes on the Cromwell Road roundabout, is scheduled for next week (week commencing May 9).

“We’re working hard to keep the roads safe. We carry out regular inspections and any defects identified and reported to us, are repaired as quickly as possible. But we can’t be everywhere at all times, which is why we encourage the public to report any potholes or highway faults using our online tool.”

The reporting tool – which can be found at highwaysreporting.cambridgeshire.gov.uk - shows 4,292 potholes in Cambridge.