Highland roads 'will be worst in Scotland'
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COUNCILLORS have renewed calls for a rethink of the way cash is shared out to maintain roads across the Highlands amid claims the current system is unfair and leaves heavily populated areas like Inverness behind.
The issue was first highlighted 10 months ago when it was revealed that the rural Aird and Loch Ness ward was to be allocated 57 per cent of the total annual Highland Council budget for roads resurfacing because of a funding formula that prioritises amount of roadway over the number of users.
According to figures issued by the council, just £2.26 million has been spent repairing roads in Inverness over the past five financial years, working out at an average of just £489,341.97 for the previous four financial years, and £302,944.91 to mid-November 2019.
More than £84,000 of this was spent on resurfacing Academy Street last year and almost £76,000 was spent in Millburn Road.
Other roads to get major investment in recent years include Milton Crescent, Leachkin Road and General Booth Road.
But it has not been enough to meet previous council estimates of £6.5 million to bring Inverness’s main roads up to scratch.
Inverness Ness-side councillor Ron MacWilliam said: “Inverness continues to be ridiculously short-changed on roads maintenance and the long-term results of that unfair allocation can be seen on nearly every street corner.
“Other Highland towns like Nairn and Dingwall are similarly losing out.”
He said there was some reluctance to tackle the “decades old anomaly” and added: “If Inverness councillors are too timid to challenge territorial thinking in their own political groups they would do well to remember that all Highland councillors have a public duty towards the entire local authority area, not just the wards they are elected to.
“Inverness roads are used daily by drivers from across the region – they come here to shop, to work, to do business – and so there needs to be an acceptance that road maintenance allocation should be related to that continuous usage, as well as the actual cost of keeping it in good order.”
According to the annual Scottish Road Maintenance Condition survey Highland Council was ranked ninth out of 32 in 2011 but by 2018 it had fallen to 25th place.
Cllr MacWilliam said: “The council engineers on the ground are working flat out – with limited resources – to keep our roads in a statutory condition and it’s sad to think that no matter how hard they work, the roads will continue to get worse.
“It is high time this council administration started managing its own resources better.
“At this rate our council-maintained roads will be the worst in Scotland within the next few years.”
Inverness South councillor Andrew Jarvie said councillors had been previously reassured that the situation would be “balanced out” and it would be looked at ahead of the next financial year. “We will have to see – we need actions not words,” he said.
The resurfacing budget for 2019/20 for the whole Highland Council area is £3.35 million – down from £5.93 million for 2018/19.
A council spokesman said the figure is expected to rise for 2020/21.
He added: “The distribution of this money within the Inverness area is based primarily on need, and the necessity to keep the road network safe for the travelling public.”
He said there was a “long-term aspirational plan” to address all arterial routes exhibiting distress and all roads were assessed on an annual basis for consideration in its structural maintenance programme.
“This programme changes year on year based on deterioration,” he said.
“There is, however, a focus on addressing arterial route deterioration via resurfacing.”
Dawn McWilliam, the manager of Kenny’s Autos in Inverness, warned motorists could face hefty repair bills after hitting potholes.
“We’re seeing people with damaged wheel bearings because they can’t avoid potholes or can’t see them – if there’s a car coming the other way you can’t help but hit the pothole,” she said.
A typical repair bill for a damaged wheel bearing would set the driver back around £200 plus VAT while the cost to fix a damaged coil spring would start at around £100 plus VAT.
Mike Greaves, the cyclist behind the campaign to build a velodrome in Inverness, said riders also faced injury if they hit a pothole, adding: “The roads are in a not very good state, I appreciate it’s down to budgets and capabilities, but the roads could be safer.”
