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Council digging deep to fight the potholes

Perth and Kinross Council spends millions of pounds on road repairs each year.
Perth and Kinross Council spends millions of pounds on road repairs each year.

Perth and Kinross Council spent almost £3 million on road repairs in the last financial year.

A report on the local authority’s roads also shows that the cost of dealing with claims lodged by motorists because of poor carriageways has reached more than £100,000 over six years.

Members of the council’s enterprise and infrastructure committee heard that a total of £1.344m was spent during 2013/14 on “routine reactive repairs”.

They include repairs to potholes, signs and bollards; vehicle damage to verges, footways and kerbs; and minor drainage issues.

The local authority also had to spend £1.603m on patching carriageways in this period.

The document disclosed that between 2007/08 and 2013/14 a total of £113,577 was paid out to deal with claims from the public related to potholes and the like.

In the 2013/14 financial year, there were 108 such claims, of which 14 were settled. This compares with 158 claims in 2012/13, with seven settled.

The council report said that the number of new claims has reduced in recent years as additional funding has been directed to carriageway repairs.

Councillors also heard that, following a period when roads in the area were in “overall gradual decline”, they have remained relatively “static” for the last three years.

The report also outlined steps taken by the council to formulate a plan to reduce the cost of maintaining roads.

The report stated: “Since 2012, Perth and Kinross Council have operated a road maintenance partnership with Tayside Contracts to drive down operating costs, allowing a greater spend on actual work, with the ultimate aim of improving the level of service, operating costs and network condition.

“Current indications are that there may be a lower level of funding available for road maintenance in the coming years.

“The roads maintenance strategy, implemented through an approved roads asset management plan, will direct where the available funding should be spent,” the report went on.

“It is likely that this will be targeted at the council’s primary road network, with lower category roads receiving less expensive treatments such as patching and surface dressing.”

The report continued “While the implementation of the roads maintenance strategy will allow for a more focused and objective approach to maintaining the council’s road network, external factors such as extreme weather and construction cost inflation may impact on projected outcomes.”

Councillors also heard that the council is responsible for a roads network of 2,441km, with a gross replacement value of £2.1 billion.

A further report on the local authority’s road asset in the Perth and Kinorss area will be produced for councillors in November next year.