Call for council to check quality of repairs to potholes
AN additional £12 million is being made available to improve highways maintenance in Essex.
But extra money will still be at the levels seen a decade before.
Essex County Council had budgeted £99 million in 2024 prior to the announcement at a budget meeting compared to £117 million in 2014.
Labour councillor Dave Harris said that quality checks were needed on repairs already carried out, reporting from residents how a repair to a pothole made in December “fell to bits within a few weeks”.
He said there were 1,155 claims of damages in 2019 which rose to 1,663 in 2023. However, he said the value of agreed claims against the council total fell from more than £28,000 in 2020 to £14,000 in 2023.
Cllr Harris said: “If you can’t fund more repairs at least you can check the quality. This motion calls for quality sampling by professionals.”
Councillor Tom Cunningham, cabinet member for highways, said the extra £12 million represented a “massive commitment” to the county. More than £8 million is committed to securing additional crews to work on member-led priorities.
Cllr Cunningham
said
Essex
County Council was giving more say to members through this “unique scheme” which will be a “significant change, but one we believe members will relish”.
A total of £2 million is being made available to deliver larger schemes, with guidance from a chairman’s advisory panel.
The council says this should free up existing local highways budgets to deliver on smaller, sort after schemes and enable larger more complex schemes.
More than £350,000 will fund a three-month blitz over the summer months to repair a large number of defects in rural roads caused by the flooding and winter conditions.
Over £300,000 for winter make safe crews next winter, between January and March 2025. Another £49,500 is being committed for an additional highways communications resource to communicate better with residents.
More than £100,000 is being made available for additional enforcement resources, ensuring landowners are accountable for cutting back their foliage, and more than £700,000 for additional highways resurfacing.
Cllr Cunningham said: “In difficult times with many demands on the public purse, this is a massive commitment, and it’s a tribute to sound financial conservative management over a period of years.”