My Personally Speaking column in The Sentinel (15 January 2026) If you want to understand how people really feel about the state of our roads, you don’t need a technical report – you just need to listen. In emails, at advice surgeries and in conversations around Newcastle-under-Lyme, the same frustrations come up time and again: potholes left unaddressed, uneven surfaces, and repairs that don’t seem to last very long if they happen at all. That everyday experience now has an