Warning Northumberland will need 'large share' of Government cash to fix potholes
by James Robinson · ChronicleLiveNorthumberland County Council has welcomed the Government's promise of more cash to fix potholes.
However, leading Tory councillors have warned the county's extensive road networks need a large share of the promised £500 million to make a difference. Northumberland has more than 3,000km of roads that have been damaged by successive years of very wet weather.
The council has said that the money is for the next financial year. As of yet no allocations have been made.
Cabinet member for highways at the county council, Coun John Riddle, said: "The last Conservative government committed £8.5 billion into road repairs guaranteeing funds over a sustained period. This saw £3.3m of additional funds provided to [the council] this year.
"The council supplemented money from those funds with £6.9m of our own funds this year meaning this year alone we will have spent £36m on our roads and highways. It is all part of our Conservative administration’s pledge to spend £120m during the four-year term of this council on road and highway repair.
"We are grateful of any additional funds from the new government but have yet to find out how much of this £500m will come to Northumberland. There are hundreds of councils in the UK but hopefully those distributing the funds appreciate that with over 3,000km of roads, Northumberland needs one of the largest shares.
"I will be writing to the relevant minister making this case for Northumberland as our administration always does."
Meanwhile, the money has been welcomed by Hexham's Labour MP Joe Morris.
He said: "Fourteen years of the Conservatives saw Britain’s roads plagued with potholes – leaving a legacy of crumbling roads and creaking infrastructure. The shocking state of our local roads is not just dangerous, it also saddles drivers with spiralling car repair costs.
"I know fixing this mess is a top priority of my constituents in Hexham. I’m delighted that, in its first budget, the new Labour Government has announced an almost 50% increase in funding to deliver lasting repairs to our local roads.
“This will make a huge difference to the daily lives of people across the Hexham constituency, who for too long have had to put up with badly maintained roads.”
The Government says it was estimated that the North East had 2,000 miles of damaged roads, with 21% of roads in poor condition. An AA survey from 2023 revealed 43% of North East residents would describe their local roads as "terrible".
The £500 million boost brings the total amount dedicated to fixing roads in England to £1.6 billion. It follows a manifesto pledge by Labour to fix one million more potholes per year.
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