As a local borough councillor, I have been as frustrated as everyone else by the explosion of potholes over the past couple of months. Many of us now carry a mental map of our worst local craters — where to brake and where to swerve.

This is not just a Surrey problem. It is happening across the UK.

Highways are the responsibility of Surrey County Council, not borough councils, but I have spent a great deal of time chasing repairs on behalf of residents. What concerns me, however, is the increasingly ridiculous politicisation of potholes in recent weeks.

The Liberal Democrats’ social media slogan #ToryPotholes raises an obvious question: does that mean potholes in Lib Dem-run councils are #LibDemPotholes? Surely we can have a more grown-up debate than this.

If we are serious about solutions, we need to talk honestly about why roads feel so bad right now — and what would actually fix them.

Surrey has one of the most intensively used and oldest road networks outside London. High traffic volumes, heavy goods vehicles and heavier electric cars all place additional stress on road surfaces.

Our geology does not help. Much of Surrey sits on sand and heavy clay that retains water. When water seeps into cracks, traffic forces the surface apart. When temperatures drop, freeze–thaw cycles expand the damage. Once the base layer fails, patch repairs often become short-term sticking plasters.

This winter has not just felt wet - it has been exceptionally wet. January 2026 was one of the wettest on record for southern England, with rainfall exceeding 200 percent of the long-term average, according to the Met Office. And the February rainfall figures were not much better.

Water infiltrates cracks and weakens the structure beneath roads. Saturated foundations fail under traffic. In January alone, Surrey Highways received more than 7,000 pothole reports - more than three times the previous month.

Surrey Highways currently has around 30 teams carrying out more than 1,500 repairs each week. But permanent repairs require dry conditions because hot asphalt cannot properly bond in a water-filled hole.

If the sub-base is saturated, even a well-executed repair may fail. Emergency pothole work also forces planned resurfacing programmes to be delayed just as demand peaks.

Residents often ask why a road dug up last year is already failing again.

Potholes rarely appear out of nowhere. Many develop where utility companies have excavated roads. In Surrey there are, on average, 147 roadwork interventions every day.

A newly laid road surface by Surrey Highways is expected to last around 30 years. However, utility reinstatements do not always match the same construction standard. The moment a trench is cut into a road, its lifespan can effectively be halved.

Even when repairs are carried out properly, trenches create structural weak points. Over time, joints crack and water tracks along seams, placing further strain on the network.

This is where the debate needs grounding in facts.

For 2026–27, Surrey is set to receive roughly £35 million in government grant funding for highway maintenance through the Department for Transport formula. That is not enough to meet long-term need, so Surrey County Council more than doubles that investment using council tax and other local resources — as councils of all political colours do across England.

The problem lies partly in the funding formula itself. Government allocations are based largely on assessed “need”, which does not fully account for how intensively roads are used.

Surrey carries heavy commuter and freight traffic, yet because the county scores lower on deprivation measures, it receives less funding per mile than some areas with lighter usage, including parts of northern England. The result is a mismatch between the pressure on our roads and the money available to maintain them.

The uncomfortable truth is that central government funding does not meet long-term maintenance needs anywhere in England. Every county council tops it up locally — and still faces a growing backlog.

Blaming one factor — or one political party — will not repair a single pothole. Residents are right to be frustrated, but the answer lies in structural investment, better coordination and honest recognition of the pressures facing our infrastructure.

If we want roads that last longer, the incoming West and East Surrey unitary authorities will need:

That is why I support my party’s commitment ahead of the May unitary elections to resurface every road that needs it within the first term of office — focusing on fixing problems properly rather than relying on endless patch repairs.

In the meantime, like many residents, I will continue doing what I can locally - and let’s hope the current spell of sunshine lasts.

Cllr Jane Austin is Leader of the Conservative Group at Waverley Borough Council.