A man who has become frustrated with potholes near his home has started planting flowers in them to “have a dig at the council”. Duncan Campbell, from Northville near Cwmbran, said he initially began planting in the potholes to humour himself, but says his antics have become so popular in the area he now wants to use them to raise awareness of the state of the area’s roads.
“It’s not something I really thought about at first to be honest,” the 55-year-old carer told WalesOnline. “I was in B&M last week and saw the flowers were five for a fiver, so I got them to put them in my garden.
“On my way home I again started going over the potholes - the roads are terrible. I drove around Morrisons roundabout which has been in a state for ages, I drove up Trussell Road and then into Northville, where potholes are everywhere. When you drove through the roads here you've pretty much got to swerve everywhere you go. It dawned on me I could start putting the flowers in the potholes for a laugh. I wasn't doing much at home, so it was really just a bit of merriment for myself.”
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Duncan began taking photos of the flowers in the potholes and posting them on social media, and he says the response has been significant. People are messaging him every day requesting the potholes on their road to be filled with flowers too.
Duncan says of all the roads he’s now visited in the area the worst are Trussell Road, Plas Twyn, Ty Newydd, Brook Street and Penllyn Avenue. “The reaction has been very good,” said Duncan, who has lived in or near Northville all his life. The backlog of repairs on pothole-plagued local roads has soared by almost a quarter in 12 months, which you can read about here.
“Every time I walk around the area people stop me and talk to me about it and they seem to be quite pleased that there is some attention being drawn towards it, '' he said. "Some people are quite confused by what I'm doing, but I think it's a good laugh to be honest. I'm quite enjoying myself.
“What started out as something quite funny has a serious element to it. What I’m taking photos of are the services that are obviously very visible to us.
“These are the services that are obviously failing us. The state of our roads has always been a long, long issue. My concern is regarding how many invisible services to most are also failing.”
Duncan is standing as an independent in the upcoming local elections next month. Those standing for election in Torfaen will be revealed on the Torfaen council website on April 6.
A spokeswoman for Torfaen borough council said: “The council operates a system of both pro-active and reactive inspections of all adopted streets within the borough. The full cycle of inspections take place on a cyclical basis, and all streets are fully inspected.
"We also inspect any potholes that are reported to us via online forms etc. Potholes which are found on private streets are the responsibility of the landowners whomever they may be.
"An inspection of this street has taken place, and the potholes identified will be fixed in a matter of due course. Residents are encouraged to report potholes via the Torfaen app, online or by phoning 01495 762200. We would like to inform residents that interfering with the carriageway regardless of their intentions is dangerous.”
