Cambridgeshire County Council has welcomed recent news of an additional £3.6m to repair potholes on its roads, on top of £8.3m already expected and planned for but warned that it won’t be enough to keep pace with either inflation, or decades of highway decline.
After Members outlined initiatives to try and get ahead of road maintenance problems - including the use of AI technology to survey the condition of roads and identify minor issues before they develop into highway faults, Full Council agreed a full scrutiny of the plan for improvements should be brought to the Highways and Transport Committee in July.
“The public is not interested in who is to blame, they are just interested in who is going to fix the problem,” said Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, leader of the Council.
“We know it is one of the biggest concerns for people in Cambridgeshire currently, and solving it is not going to be easy. We have a tight budget, where we are already needing to take into account increased demands on social care and massive inflation on highways materials. The additional money while welcome is only a drop in the ocean.
“Finding and delivering a solution will need combined work from all Councillors across the whole council, as well as an improved focus from our highways teams on monitoring the work of our contractors.”
Cllr Alex Beckett, chair of the Council’s Highways and Transport Committee also highlighted to the meeting that without skilled people to carry out the work even additional resources wouldn’t help – and confirmed the council was investing in apprenticeships to mitigate this issue too.
In an amended motion agreed by Full Council this week, Members recognised that the poor condition of the county’s roads is plain to see and had local people clamouring for further and faster work.
It confirmed Highways Maintenance is a top priority of the council, and that it was right and appropriate that Frank Jordan, the newly appointed Executive Director of Place and Sustainability should lead on the work.
To see the full debate, watch the recording of Cambridgeshire County Council’s Full Council meeting by visiting the council’s YouTube page
