Yes we can! Meet the new recruits speeding up road repairs in their village

Four parish councillors are the latest recruits helping to fix problems on the county’s roads more quickly.

The Kidlington parish council volunteers received their training – and cans of spray paint to mark up defects – from our officers last month to become Fix My Street ‘super users’.

They are among about 150 super users across the county trained to inspect potholes, blocked drains and damaged kerbing since the pilot scheme started in 2019. And the search is on for more.

All residents are encouraged to report road or street problems on Fix My Street, which can be found on our website. But super users can sometimes fast-track the process instances by ordering the defect repairs directly with our contractor.

The super user volunteers are only expected to cover their local area on mainly residential or quieter roads, not A-roads, and only when it is safe to do so. All equipment and training is provided.

Although our highways officers inspect their areas regularly, additional help from local people increases the number of defects that can be repaired and makes the process more efficient.

Any residents or organisations wanting to become Fix My Street super users should email [email protected] for more information.

"Our residents can be reassured that the report they make on Fix My Street will be prioritised through local super users, where the criteria is met. We look forward to getting stuck in with our spray cans and doing our bit to make our roads safer." Cllr Lesley McLean

The Fix My Street super users are among the initiatives that form part of our Oxfordshire Together (OXTOG) programme of volunteers.

Other volunteering opportunities include road sign cleaning, maintaining public rights of way, school crossing patrols, managing salt bins, providing community transport, or joining one of the county’s more than 100 community action groups.