Dear Bellman,
I have to make a confession. I posed a very difficult question to Aberdeenshire Council. “When prior to 2025 were the potholes in Evan Street dealt with?”
It took three attempts to get answer (Dec. 2024) and when I got it, the person who responded apologised for the “confusion.” Of course, it was my fault for asking this demanding question, and clearly the computer which stores this information was on annual leave, or may be long-term sick leave. To be fair, the person who answered the question (eventually) is employed by the Council only part-time—the principal employment being that of a director of “Confused.com”.
The person did confirm that dealing with the potholes in Evan Street is low priority. After all, it is not as if Evan Street is a main street in Stonehaven. I assume that when the local bus cannot be seen having fallen in to one of the many moon craters, it would be rescued, but, of course, the issue might have to be addressed by a committee whose remit is to find missing persons.
I am not a qualified road engineer, but personally, I would avoid using pasta to fill these holes as the rain emptied the holes not long after they were filled. Next time, filo pastry would be better!
Yours etc
Douglas Cusine