An Angus administration councillor has jumped on board a bid to create a £100 million fund to tackle Scotland’s decaying roads.
Forfar Conservative councillor Braden Davy has added his voice to a campaign being led by the party’s Holyrood transport spokesman to establish the fighting fund after labelling the roads situation “untenable”.
In the decade to 2017, Angus paid out £16,861 in pothole compensation claims.
However, the cost to the council has dropped dramatically in the past two years, with nothing paid in 2017 and only £72 the previous year.
Dundee City Council paid out £81,000 over the ten-year period, Perth and Kinross £62,000 and Aberdeenshire’s staggering tally hit almost £200,000.
Angus has now developed an online reporting system within its overall digital strategy which officials say will make it easier for residents to report issues such as potholes, and allow swift action to be taken to repair them.
However, Mr Davy has criticised the Scottish Government for a claimed 20% cut in central road maintenance funding and said it has thrown council’s into a vicious cycles of not having enough money to repair roads but still having to shell out for repairs to vehicles.
“After years of neglect Scotland’s roads are in a shocking state – over a third are in need of repair,” he said.
“We have 154,000 potholes, more than any other part of the UK and more than Wales, Northern Ireland, the East Midlands, South East and London combined.
“Road users are sick and tired of excuses for not tackling the appalling state of our roads.
“I have heard from many people who complain about the state of our roads, it is a problem which exists right across Angus.
“Yet, we can’t do everything we’d like to do. Our budget is being cut by 20%, forcing us to ruthlessly prioritise areas for funding, and potholes for repairs.
“We all know prevention is better than cure, and we need to ensure our roads are put into a good condition.
“That would mean reduced expensive council pay-outs, reduced repair bills for constituents, and a better travel experience for everyone.
“Angus residents deserve fantastic roads and that is why I’m backing calls for the Scottish Government to provide a £100 million Pothole Action Fund which will help us in Angus improve the quality of our roads.”
Conservative Holyrood transport spokesman Jamie Greene is leading the call for the £100m pothole fund to be set up.
Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said: “We will continue to invest additional monies where we can.
“I’ll work hand-and-hand with local authorities to see how I can be helpful in relation to my role in the trunk road network, but also recognising where we can be helpful to local authorities in this regard, we absolutely will.”
