Road to golf course in a ‘horrible’ state

“I was just driving out of the golf club when I heard a bang. On the way home my tyre had a complete blow-out and I nearly crashed. I had to pull over and change my tyre. It’s become a nuisance to members and staff,” he said.

The northern part of the road is not maintained by West Sussex County Council, which has led to some confusion as to whose responsibility it is.

Sally Haygarth, owner of Hill Barn Golf Club, said she had previously paid as much as £6,000 every two years towards the road’s maintenance, however, since the completion of the Worthing College development, as well as a residential development by Barratt Homes she believed it should not be solely down to her.

“The road serves our golf club, the playing field and we have this massive construction going on around us. There’s been a huge increase in car movement down Hill Barn Lane which has certainly contributed to the horrible state it’s in,” said Sally.

Rodney Baker, a member of the golf club, said: “The potholes have become a real danger. The road is good up to the new Worthing College and then it’s like going over a ploughed field.

“I have seen these holes get larger every week.”

A £30 million ‘Better Roads Programme’ has been launched to help improve unclassified roads across the county.

Between January 1 and February 3, 2014, 2,125 potholes were reported to the County Council and considered serious enough to repair.

Over the same period, 4,117 potholes were fixed – almost half of these were discovered by pothole patrol crews.

John O’Brien, county council deputy cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “Cold or wet weather makes the deterioration of the road surface unavoidable in winter. We spend the rest of the year resurfacing and improving the roads in anticipation of this.”

See page 36 for our report on the increase in pothole damage compensation claims.