This is way past being funny, if it ever was funny. Potholes.

In 2004, as a newbie city councillor, I urged the council to follow best practice in other cities around the world and invest in rubberised road surfaces to reduce pothole damage.

A Dutch company was willing to help us conduct a trial.

The council did nothing and now, 15 years later, we have the crisis reported in the Press on February 2: a 490 per cent increase in complaints.

The point of politics it is to manage change. And that includes potholes.

Twenty years ago the Canadians demonstrated that rubberised surfaces extend the pothole-free life of road by 10 years because, by making the surface impermeable, water cannot penetrate the road.

A major cause of potholes is water freezing and expanding within the road surface in winter. It’s not rocket science.

Rubberised surfaces protect roads, save money, and much more.

They also recycle old tyres, which is preferable to sending them to be burned in India. Which is another scandal.

The council should stop wasting millions on filling holes with materials that crumble the very next time it freezes.

Time to wake up and engage with best practice or let others take charge.

Christian Vassie,

Blake Court,

Wheldrake, York