IT will take 73 years to resurface all of Plymouth roads if the city council continues working at its current pace, it has been claimed.

Conservative councillors said the authority was falling short of meeting its statutory responsibility to maintain the highway network and going for cheaper fixes rather than long term solutions.

At a full council meeting this week, there was unanimous support for investigating a change of approach to improve the standard of highways in the city and proactively repair more potholes.

The notice on motion was proposed by Cllr Chris Wood (Con, Eggbuckland) who said according to the council’s local highways maintenance transparency report it had resurfaced just 7.5 miles of road on average each year since 2020.

“At our current rate of resurfacing it will take us 73 years to resurface all of our roads in Plymouth once and by the end of that time the ones done first will be crumbling again.”

He said full resurfacing was “the gold standard” which done properly could last up to 30 years.

But instead the council was relying on surface dressing and using material like micro asphalt which would last five to ten years.

“It’s like painting over rust, it looks better for a while but the underlying problem is not solved. Plymouth is incapable of maintaining roads properly under this current approach. Our city is too large and the investment too small for sticking plaster solutions to keep pace with scale of deterioration, the backlog is growing year after year.”

Pothole repairs averaged at 2,622 per year over the last five years, he said.

“Residents find it enormously frustrating that when the team come out and fill one pothole multiple others along the same road are often ignored.

“They feel increasing that we are unable to carry out basic maintenance effectively.”

Savings could be made on fixing emerging potholes nearby and “reduce potential damage to vehicle, trip hazards and make road safer for cyclists.”

Cllr Wood said this principle could be applied to painting lines on roads.

He said his motion was “not a silver bullet” just a request to see if the current approach could be improved.

Seconding the motion Conservative group leader Cllr Andy Lugger (Southway) said it was not a criticism of the cabinet member with responsibility for highways Cllr John Stephens (Lab, Plymstock Dunstone) and his team who “do excellent job managing resources and making roads of this city safe”.

Independent and Green councillors said there was “simply no money in the pot” after years of austerity by the Conservative government.

Cllr Patrick Nicholson (Ind, Plympton St Mary) said he supported the motion but hoped for a broader debate around lobbying the government for more funding for highway maintenance.

The council’s Labour administration referred to a £500 million injection of cash nationwide by the government in March for potholes and defects.

This year 45 roads in the city would “get new lease of life” with a £1.7million investment, said Cllr Stephens.

He agreed that the roads had deteriorated in the city but said the number of reactive works had been “consistent”

The council was already taking a “proactive approach” by using its low carbon and no waste velocity machine to repair other defects within five square metres of a reported pothole even if they did not meet the criteria for filling.

Devon County Council’s Lib Dem administration has introduced a new trial where highways inspectors investigating reported potholes will be asked to investigate all other potholes within 500 metres in each direction or to the nearest junction and then repair them appropriately, PCC heard at their meeting.

Plymouth’s only Lib Dem councillor Dylan Tippetts (Compton) said: “This is a perfect example of listening to residents and then just getting on with the job.”

Earlier this year, it was reported that pothole repairs had cost Plymouth City Council £1.8 million over the last three years but that the authority also paid out £11,000 to individuals who had made more than 100 claims against the council when their vehicles were damaged by potholes.