Labour’s Shadow Lead for Transport in Swindon, Councillor Julian Price has called on other local Councillors to support the idea of reducing the number of potholes in Swindon by using New Homes Bonus money to help subsidise costs for resurfacing roads. Councillors will be voting on this proposal at next Thursday’s Full Council Meeting.
Labour’s Shadow Lead for Transport in Swindon, Councillor Julian Price has called on other local Councillors to support the idea of reducing the number of potholes in Swindon by using New Homes Bonus money to help subsidise costs for resurfacing roads. Councillors will be voting on this proposal at next Thursday’s Full Council Meeting.
The New Homes Bonus is a non-ringfenced grant from the government which rewards local authority areas for building new homes and is expected to be used to deal with the challenges that arise from increased housing and population growth. For Swindon, the 2013-14 level of New Homes Bonus was around £4m and this is set to increase year-on-year as more houses in Swindon are built.
Councillor Price had previously highlighted the fact that Swindon Council had spent £24,000 on compensating motorists for damage to their cars in Swindon from potholes.
Councillor Julian Price said:
“Increasing numbers of potholes and roads in disrepair have come at a huge cost to Swindon Borough Council and to motorists in Swindon, who have to deal with the damage to their vehicles. I want Swindon Council to be on the side of motorists and commit to investing millions of pounds extra in to repairing the town’s roads. We believe this road resurfacing commitment will be a council investment now in order to save later, through a reduction in the number of potholes the Council has to fix.
The Council in recent years have been spending more and more on fixing potholes and that is important. However it also cut the capital road maintenance budget last year by £1m, I would like to see the Council using the New Homes Bonus money to not only reverse that cut but to add even more to the capital road maintenance budget with a view to resurfacing as many of Swindon’s roads as possible.
And according to a recent AA survey, up to a third of motorists have had their vehicles damaged by potholes in the last two years, so reducing the number of potholes in the town could be a major cost saving for Swindon’s hard pressed motorists.
I hope all Councillors will support my proposal when it is debated on Thursday.”
Cllr Julian Price
Swindon Labour Group Transport Shadow Lead