Deputy council leader ‘horrified’ stretch of pothole-ridden road not in latest repair plans near Worksop
A district council’s Deputy Leader has said she is ‘horrified’ that a ‘dangerous’ stretch of a pothole-ridden road in Bolsover is not included in the county council’s latest highway repair plans.
Labour Bolsover District Council Deputy Leader, Coun Donna Hales, and Reform UK Derbyshire County Coun Kevin Harper, who oversees Barlborough and Clowne in the Bolsover district, have reported issues about the troubled road’s long-running pothole problems.
They have highlighted the extent of pothole dangers on Woodhouse Lane, in Bolsover, to the Reform UK-controlled Derbyshire County Council’s highways authority and the county council’s Highways Hub particularly where the road joins Chesterfield Road and Buttermilk Lane.
Coun Hales said: “We have reported issues on Woodhouse Lane, in Bolsover, particularly where it joins Chesterfield Road and Buttermilk Lane multiple times over at least four years and completed a couple of site visits.
“I am horrified to discover although work will commence on March 11, 2026, for part of the road, the above is not included.
“Due to recent rain this junction is dangerous and probably warrants closure. I will hold Derbyshire County Council responsible if any accidents apart from damaged cars occur.”
Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet confirmed at a meeting on February 19 that its highways team has spent more than £41m on maintaining and improving the county’s roads from April, 2025, to December, 2025, as it noted its Capital Plan Delivery Update while claiming this is more than in any previous year.
The council noted the receipt of over £41m so far of the 2025-26 Highways Capital Programme which was funded by an allocation received from the East Midlands Combined County Authority including the annual direct grant from Central Government for Highways Maintenance and Integrated Transport, previously received directly from the Department for Transport.
It has stated that this is a record amount of spending for the first nine months of the financial year on the county’s roads which it says is higher than the amount spent in total for recent years and by the end of the financial year on April 5, and it expects that the final figure at the end of the project will be around £52m.
The council also said that this work includes fixing potholes, as well as resurfacing roads and pavements, improving cycle routes, greenways and footpaths, drainage works and mending retaining walls and landslips.
Cabinet Member for Potholes, Highways and Transport, County Coun Charlotte Hill, told the Cabinet meeting: “In excess of £41m has been delivered and it approves £52m expected to be delivered at the end of the project. It’s a good news story.”
The council has outlined its highways capital spend over past financial years as: £39.675m in 2021-22; £35.423m in 2022-23; £39.741m in 2023-24; £36.219m in 2024-25; And so far £41,072m after only nine months of the 2025-26 year, but it says this is expected to be around £52m by the end of the current financial year in April, 2026.
However, District Coun Hales told the Cabinet Member for Potholes, Highways and Transport before the Cabinet meeting that both she and County Coun Harper have reported issues on Woodhouse Lane particularly where it joins Chesterfield Road and Buttermilk Lane multiple times over at least four years and completed a couple of site visits.
District Coun Hales added: “I expect that the highways hub assesses the dangers on Woodhouse Lane immediately and either closes the road at the junction with Chesterfield Road or places warning signage.”
Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Potholes, Highways and Transport, Coun Hill, stated the county council will continue with inspections of Woodhouse Lane to make sure any issues are identified and addressed.
Coun Hill said: “The works on Woodhouse Lane, Bolsover, that we are about to carry out are based on an inspection of the existing condition of the road.
“We’ll continue with routine inspections of the road to make sure any issues that meet our intervention criteria are identified and addressed.”
The council has also pointed out that work carries on at pace during the winter months but there is at a greater risk of disruption due to the weather.
Concerning the latest Capital Plan Delivery Update, Coun Hill said: “I am delighted to be able to report such great progress with delivering the highways capital programme.
“Never before has the team managed to get so much work done in this timescale.
“It is a fantastic achievement, and credit must go to both our in-house teams, including those behind the scenes who plan the work and those on the front line, and our external contractors who help deliver some of the larger jobs.
“We will carry on making improvements to the county’s roads and pavements, and hope that the weather over the next few months is kind to us.”
Coun Hill believes residents will start to notice a ‘real difference’ in the quality of roads in the next year despite the council suffering criticism for on-going pothole problems in a Chesterfield neighbourhood and for its poor showing under a new rating system.
A Department for Transport report gave the council a low ‘Red’ rating for tackling potholes as the East Midlands Labour Party Group and Chesterfield’s Labour MP highlighted continuing problems in January on and around Holland Road, at Whittington, in Chesterfield.
The Reform UK-led council was given the lowest ‘Red’ rating with 12 other councils in the Labour Government’s Department for Transport’s new traffic light ratings aimed at measuring how well councils are tackling potholes with ‘Amber’ indicating room for improvement and ‘Green’ indicating best practice.
The council stated resurfacing work is scheduled at Holland Road to Whittington Hill to the B6057 Sheffield Road, and at The Glebe Way and Compass Crescent, in nearby Old Whittington, but not until the 2027-28 financial year following plans for surfacing and resurfacing at many other roads in Whittington during the 2026-27 financial year.
At last year’s Budget, Labour announced a record £7.3 billion in funding to help councils get on with fixing the nation’s roads with access to full future funding allocations linked to performance.
However, Derbyshire County Council has disputed its ‘Red’ rating and has challenged claims from the DfT, the Transport Secretary and the East Midlands Labour Group after it recently laid claim to having cleared a backlog of pothole repairs.
Coun Hill has argued that since May, 2025, a backlog of potholes has been cleared and the highways service is now prepared to maintain this level through winter and it has a proactive highways service working on repairs before they become issues for residents.