Motorists' pothole misery could be over thanks to £5.2m funding pot
MOTORISTS have welcomed news Lincolnshire's biggest authority wants to pour an extra £5.2 million into fixing the county's potholes.
At a meeting to approve the authority's 2011-12 budget yesterday, the Tory executive were told that, with more council tax expected to be collected, and a bigger than expected grant from the Government, there was now spare money, which could be used to help repair the "unprecedented" levels of road damage.
-
Executive member for finance, Councillor Kelly Smith, said that when the executive had proposed the budget on January 5, it had been assumed there would be no increase in the amount of tax collected, and they only found out on Monday how much money was coming from Westminster.
He said: "We've a projected £2.7 million extra from the increase in the tax base in 2011 and an additional £2.5 million from the government settlement grant, which we're pouring into potholes.
"Very clearly, that money will help repair the unprecedented damage from the harsh winter."
Council leader Councillor Martin Hill said he was pleased the council had the money to spend, especially at a time when balancing the budget was so difficult.
"Everyone driving about knows we have a major problem with our roads," he said.
"But it was still a difficult decision at a time when so many other areas have had to find savings.
"However, in our budget consultations it was one of the major issues raised. And like any other asset we have to maintain them or face a big bill in the end."
As previously reported in the Echo, the current backlog of pothole repairs could cost up to £300 million to fix.
But Paul Coathup, assistant director for highways and transportation, said any money would help efforts to permanently fix, rather than patch up the county's roads.
"We are very pleased that, within an exceptionally tight budget settlement, the executive have been able to identify an additional £2.7 million to allocate to repairing the recent winter damage to the road network," he said.
"This additional funding will enable significantly more permanent pothole repairs, as well as a good number of large surfacing overlay schemes to be completed."
The leader of the county council's independent group, Councillor Marianne Overton, said it was good to see the authority listening to the people it served.
"We've been calling for improvements in roads and particularly for highways to do a proper job with their repairs," she said.
"So I'm very pleased to see this extra money being used in this way."
The budget now goes forward for further discussion and possible ratification by full council on February 11.
8 Comments
by adam, on the farm
Thursday, February 03 2011, 8:28AM
“one big problem would be getting the lads doing the fixing of potholes to do a good job..........on the A17 there were some really bad holes on the leadenham bypass. they have been filled put the ride in now still as rough as it was before. surely badly filled holes are just going to lead to new holes forming around the "patches"”
by bob the bodger filling a hole, lincoln
Wednesday, February 02 2011, 5:12PM
“dreamon.... thanks mate for the reply thought it was me who bodged and cut corners these guys and girls are just playing i could not believe what i saw ..”
by Dreamon, Nettleham
Wednesday, February 02 2011, 1:34PM
“bob, i saw them trying to make repairs as well, but you have to remember its only their summer job because in the winter they are driving the gritters. absolutely pathetic, whatever happened to a proper repair carried out by recogonised contractors. doing the job twice or three times is not cost effective Lincolnshire County Council”
by Roadscource, Upside down in a ditch
Wednesday, February 02 2011, 1:33PM
“Spending money on dumping bituminous surfacing into a hole is a waste of taxpayers cash - take a look at the A46, it needs fully resurfacing along its whole length.
The reason for the damage is the use of whats known as "Thin Surfacings". Instead of the usual 40mm of surfacing, these "Thin" surfacings are only 20 to 25mm thick and have failed prematurely all over the Lincs and Notts area. Their use is yet another blunder by the Council bods making decisions to use untested materials in a bid to save money - well now that they need resurfacing tens of years before their time id say its yet again another waste of millions of pounds of Tax Payers money.
Never mind we cant afford fuel anymore anyway.................”
by bob the bodger, lincs
Wednesday, February 02 2011, 11:09AM
“watched these guys at work the other day filling the size of manhole all they did was chuck it in,, no wacker no sweep up or preperation.. let the poor motorist wear it in.tarmac stones all over the road .Bad job done total bodge will only come back out in the next frost even bigger”
by Steve, Milan
Wednesday, February 02 2011, 10:12AM
“Hang on a minute - "at a meeting to approve the authority's 2011-12 budget yesterday" which suggests a Fiscal year of April to March so won't hold my breath that anything will happen too soon; with a final statement of "The budget now goes forward for further discussion and possible ratification by full council on February 11" which I know isn't far away but suggests this isn't a done deal and still plenty of hot air huffing and puffing to be had.
Also there's a few "expected" statements in here which means "not sure" in reality because if the Executive Member for Finance assumed there would be no increase in the amount of tax collected, you would hope she would have more of a handle on local taxation collections when submitting budget forecasts than say someone sitting in a room in Westminster.
One final thing, Councillor Marianne Overton, said it was good to see the authority listening to the people it served; how about listening to the people that serves IT for a change, ther''s plenty of people on here willing to offer advice on cost savings rather than job losses.”
by Stan, Lincoln
Wednesday, February 02 2011, 8:57AM
“It is not the price of the materials need to make these repairs that cost so much money, it is the cost of the labour. Why not use convict labour to carry out these repairs? Better than letting them lounge about all day up at Greetwell Road playing computer games and watching daytime TV. Make these people pay back society which they are at present unfit to be a member of...Or would that infringe their human rights according to the Dudley Doogooders..”
by John, Lincoln
Wednesday, February 02 2011, 8:47AM
“Given that Lincolnshire County Council said recently that there was a £300m backlog of repairs due, it's hard to see how, in the Echo's terms "Motorists' pothole misery could be over thanks to £5.2m funding pot".”