Shropshire roads chief 'incredibly disappointed' over £10 million budget cut
A senior Shropshire councillor has revealed he was “incredibly disappointed” to learn his budget for the next two years was being slashed by £10 million.
Councillor Steve Davenport, portfolio holder for highways and transport, said the cut would make it difficult for him to deliver on a number of schemes he was keen to see completed.
But he also said he was looking to have the decision overturned.
Shropshire Council confirmed last week it would reducing the capital budget by £5m in 2018/19 and again in 2019/20 to help meet its savings targets.
Councillor Davenport said: “I am incredibly disappointed but I am doing my best to overturn it because I am being asked to work with less than I had before and under extenuating circumstances.
“The roads are bad at the moment. We’ve had a really bad winter and these cuts will mean we cannot deliver repairs as well as other works we had planned to complete.”
Councillor Davenport added he had been inundated with emails from residents across Shropshire wanting to see road repairs.
He continued: “We are working with 5,500km of roads across Shropshire and I have had lots of emails asking me when repairs were going to be made to those roads.
“There are some really desperate cases.
“But we will get to them when we can. We understand how people feel and we are hoping they will bear with us.”
Dave Gradwell, Shropshire Council’s area traffic engineer, said the reduction means a number of planned highways improvement schemes would be pushed back to 2020/21 – at the earliest – when it was hoped the full budget could be reinstated.
He added: “Our aim continues to provide safe and well-maintained roads across the county, while supporting other council services. To achieve these savings we have therefore carefully considered and prioritised, in consultation with our contractors.
“The integrated transport capital budget typically funds schemes derived from Shropshire Council’s Road Safety Policy – both accident-led schemes and community-led road safety concerns – as well as signal enhancements, sustainable transport initiatives and bus shelter grants.
“The reduction in budget means the focus of this capital programme of work will now be accident-data led schemes and post-scheme safety reviews for the forthcoming two financial years.
“Inspections, repairs and maintenance work funded through the highways revenue budget will be unaffected and all defects identified or reported, including potholes, will continue to be repaired in accordance with our policy.”
By Emily Lloyd, local democracy reporter
