Brightlingsea councillor maps potholes using AI technology

Brightlingsea town councillor Mat Court says not a week goes by without him hearing about potholes or other road issues. 

Mr Court said: “As town councillors, we are often the first port of call for these issues.

"Even though we are not responsible for the roads, many people do not care and come to us.” 

Complaint - Mat Court hears very often about road surface issues and potholes (Image: Mat Court)

The councillors could not do much more than report the holes to Essex Highways using an online tool.

But now Mr Court has decided to take matters into his own hands and raise awareness of the issue. 

“I have real concerns for vulnerable road users and those with mobility issues, so I’ve launched an initiative to map all the streets in Brightlingsea using an AI-enabled app called Stan,” he said. 

The app uses pictures and videos taken by users to generate a ‘health score’ map of roads in the area. 

Map - The road health map of Brightlingsea (Image: Mat Court)

So far, Mat has covered about half of the town in three weeks, while riding his bike.

Once he is done with Brightlingsea, he can see himself extending the project to Thorrington and add issues over pavements, as they are taken on by the AI. 

The developers of the app work with some local authorities, but Essex County Council is not part of the project. 

Despite that, Mr Court hopes his personal crusade will make a difference. 

Issue - Potholes are an issue for all road users (Image: Mat Court)

“It is a way of doing this stuff differently," he said.

"How we are doing this at the moment and expect different results all the time is silly.

"We need to look at this differently and hopefully with that will come a more positive outcome.”

A spokesperson for Essex Highways said: "The most effective way for people to report road defects is through our Tell Us webpage at www.essexhighways.org/tell-us

“Ongoing issues can also be tracked via the Track It webpage at www.essexhighways.org/track-it 

"These online tools are specifically made for Essex Highways so we can gather all the information needed to respond to issues, which can't be guaranteed with third-party applications.

"Recent changes to Tell Us have made it even easier to report issues – residents can now mark things as urgent and let us know if a situation has worsened.”