Unfortunately, it is all too common to hear from residents about the dire state of Colchester's paths and roads.

In my time canvassing I have heard the same complaints time and time again.

Residents are growing weary of the failure of our county council to fund adequate repairs and maintenance to roads and pavements, which is posing a public safety risk to the residents of Colchester.

We have heard the accidents that occur, like the man who cracked his shoulder after tripping up on a cracked path on Ipswich Road, or the pregnant woman who fell over twice in the St Botolph's underpass and on Osborne Street.

A month ago I walked my daughter out to the shop and she tripped on a piece of the pathway where are bollard had been removed and was luckily not hurt badly, but was bleeding from the teeth and had cuts on her face.

All I can think is thank god it wasn't a serious injury.

In other cases, I've been out canvassing and seen an entire pavement slab that could be lifted right out of the ground, and in one case in New Town and Christchurch ward, a bollard that could very easily fall over if enough force was exerted on it.

Gazette: Victoria Weaver state of paths in Colchester

A resident had told me it was a persistent problem.

Our county council has a duty of care to inspect and maintain our roads and pathways to a safe standard.

The authority is failing to do this adequately as can be seen in two instances near me where repairs were carried out by maintenance workers and for some reason they seemed to have only done half the job.

Does the council think this is acceptable or did it just run out of money half way through repairs?

There is one problem on Ipswich Road that has been there for years - a tree root poking through the path which created a fairly large trip-hazard.

So recently in the summer they came to "fix" it but in doing so they actually made the problem even worse.

They had simply poured tarmac over it and left it, the trip hazard is actually bigger and more of an obstruction than before.

The tarmac is starting to crack again because of the original problem.

They came about two months later to place a barrier around the "repair" and have since not returned, leaving the pathway completely blocked for anyone who is disabled or has a pram.

To bring back the example from when my daughter tripped, the holes she tripped on were left from when two bollards on Myland Hall Chase were removed.

Tarmac has been used to fill in the holes where they had previously been and yet there are still two holes in the ground where the bollards were.

It is not a repair and it is not safe, it is ridiculous.

The county council must take these issues seriously.

The majority of county councillors don't even live in Colchester and the council is run by the Conservatives.

I think to myself, who in their right mind would have designed local government like this?

Who would have put the majority of the powers such as transport, roads, health and education in the hands of a council where the majority of the councillors don't know the concerns of its residents?

When does Colchester make the necessary steps towards becoming a unitary authority to take back control of it's own roads and services from the county government?

Even the possibility of a combined authority, possibly with Braintree, with some devolved powers to our local authority should be on the cards in my view.

In any case, that is speculation and what needs to happen right now is for our council to start taking better care or our streets.

Victoria Weaver
Ipswich Road, Colchester
Prospective Labour councillor