Compensation payouts by Wrecsam Council to members of the public have almost trebled in just a year.
The news that compensation paid out rose from £339,997 in 2021/2 to £955,455 in 2022/23 emerged after a Freedom of Information request from Plaid Cymru councillors.
The largest payouts have been for highways maintenance - amounting to £361,000 of the total of £1.3 million over the past two years.
Cllr Marc Jones, who submitted the FOI request, said: "More than a third of a million pounds has gone in compensating people for damage to their vehicles in the past two years. Some of these payments date back to claims made in 2013 but there is a clear rise in pothole-related claims in recent years. It's fair to assume that increased claims are being made because roads are not being maintained and, as a result, more damage is being caused to cars and motorists are putting in claims.
"Wouldn't it make sense to spend more on resurfacing the roads rather than paying out more and more in compensation?
"Plaid Cymru councillors have raised the issue of road maintenance time and time again with the council. We understand that money is limited because of central government cuts but this is not a good use of money - even after paying out the compensation the roads still need bringing up to standard. Being pro-active in fixing potholes and resurfacing roads that are a danger to cyclists and motorists is a long-term investment that would ultimately save the council money."
Cllr Jones, Plaid Cymru's group leader on Wrecsam Council, added: "The failure to deal with potholes and poor surfacing has other consequences - on Friday evening Cllr Annette Davies, a Plaid Cymru councillor, was interrupted while having a family meal with her grand-daughter by a female banging on her door. The woman attempted to assault Cllr Davies because she was angry that her car had been damaged by potholes in a local road.
"This is despite Cllr Davies and other Plaid councillors locally working non-stop behind the scenes to try to get the council's highways department to take action. It's deeply distressing for a councillor to have to face that kind of physical abuse when they're doing so much to try to solve the situation. Annette is a wonderful hard-working local representative and doesn't deserve having valuable family time interrupted in such a violent and aggressive way. It's a growing problem I'm afraid, with female councillors in particular being subjected to abuse in person and online from people who are frustrated by diminishing council services. This is the direct consequence of 14 years of Tory cuts and a local failure to prioritise funding to the right places."
Cllr Davies commented on the incident on her Facebook page after the attack: "Yesterday a lady hammered my door, I was home with my granddaughter. She physically tried to hit me because of damage caused to her car on Summerhill Road. I've been a Councillor for almost two years, the roads have been neglected for decades. I'm fighting for a Summerhill Road resurface - we will know in the coming weeks if we are successful. In the meantime I can't do anything more."
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