I WAS delighted to see that the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee has launched a public consultation into road maintenance, then, of course, has gone on a nine-week holiday ("Call goes out for your views on pothole epidemic", The Herald", July 2). Nevertheless, it’s long overdue given the sad state of our roads.

Inevitably the cry will go up that lack of money will inhibit any progress. As many a management consultant would say, we need to work smarter, not harder.

Our utility companies, including a vast array of broadband and televisual companies, continue to dig up our roads with great regularity, causing all sorts of disruption and damage to roads, pavements, cycle paths and the economy in general. So as an idea for the aforementioned committee, why not ask road-digging companies to repair all potholes within, say, 100 metres of their roadworks as a gesture of goodwill for the disruption.

I hear the squeals of horror from those companies but it would only be a marginal cost for them considering they have all the paraphernalia already on site with the only additional cost being the additional asphalt and work time.

I recently watched our well-known Scottish water company undertake water improvement work by the River Kelvin. It duly completed the work but completely ignored the blocked drains with resulting small pond not 10m from where they were working. They had all the kit and people necessary to fix said blocked drain but studiously ignored it when it could have been fixed with very little additional cost or effort.

It would be a small price for them to pay for the disruption and weakening of the road infrastructure. Time for the Government and councils to flex their muscles and get the utility companies to give a bit more back to their communities with a small adjustment to their local by-laws and codes of conduct.

Ian McNair, Glasgow G12.