This summer, we have been taking a proactive approach to ensuring work is carried out to keep the borough clean, tidy and presentable. It is one of the most obvious and effective ways we can help restore civic pride in Thurrock.
At the start of the summer, we announced that we would be carrying out a pothole repair blitz across the borough, and I said that I was sure you would be seeing road crews out and about fixing potholes.
We are now just over halfway through that process, and I am pleased to report that it has already resulted in nearly 3,300 potholes being repaired on roads across Thurrock. This includes not only the larger potholes, but also smaller ones that create everyday inconvenience for local drivers on some of the borough's back roads.
We have taken a two-pronged approach to this pothole repair blitz. One team has been travelling around the borough locating larger potholes that require more significant repairs and ensuring they are fixed as they are identified. That team has already repaired more than 450 potholes.
A second team has been using jet patching technology, which can quickly and effectively repair smaller defects without the need to close roads. That team has done an incredible job and has already repaired 2,833 potholes. These repairs not only fix defects today, but also prevent them from developing into larger potholes in the future.
We have also carried out numerous repairs to pavements and central reservation barriers, as well as tidying and trimming overgrown central reservations where needed.
On top of that, our cleaning, greening and streets teams have been out in the hot sun carrying out maintenance and repairs, including significant work at Grays Cemetery, trimming and reopening footpaths and bridleways, and improving the entrance to the Thameside Theatre.
All of this combines to make the borough look better, make it easier to get around, and create more opportunities for all of us to take advantage of the good weather and explore the countryside and green spaces that we are fortunate to have in such abundance here in Thurrock.
This is only the start of this new administration's reset of Thurrock. In the coming weeks, you will see even more initiatives and activities that will help us all take greater civic pride in the place we call home.