Heavy rainfall damage on roads is 'inevitable' because of budget cuts
WEAKENING to Derbyshire's roads is "inevitable" due to budget cuts, according to a council committee.
Highways bosses are on track to achieve £24 million worth of savings over the 2009-2013 period – with more cuts to its spending power on the way.
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A Derbyshire County Council committee concluded a combination of bad weather and budget cuts would cause roads to deteriorate.
A review by an improvement and scrutiny committee at Derbyshire County Council concluded that a combination of bad weather and budget cuts would cause roads to "deteriorate".
Labour group leader Anne Western, who sat on the cross-party committee, said: "With all the wet weather we've had, there's been terrible damage to the roads as rain water has sunk beneath the surface.
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"Just driving along you see potholes that have sprung up overnight. I think we will see a deterioration in the roads."
Councillor Simon Spencer, cabinet member for highways and transport, said the committee's report was a "fair representation" of the issues facing the council – but added the future challenges facing his staff were difficult to predict.
He said: "There are a number of variables with my department.
"If the weather is kind to us, we can mitigate the impact of budget reductions. But if the weather is unkind, it may well be a challenge and the scenario outlined in the committee's report."
Quizzed on what deterioration could take place if the depressing weather continued, Mr Spencer said not all of it would be noticeable.
He said: "When we talk about deterioration, not all of it is visible.
"It's not just about the road surface and potholes – it's what's underneath the surface that we find maintenance is needed."
Lib Dem councillor Ray Russell, who also sat on the committee, said motorists who pay road tax and faced driving on roads in a poor state had "a right to be concerned".
Despite the budget cuts, Mr Spencer said he was not aware of any compulsory redundancies in the highways department, although he said there had been some staff who had taken early retirement who had not been replaced.
He insisted the department had still been able to carry out its statutory duties, despite having less money to fund its operations.
Mr Spencer added a "shake-up" of how his department operates had helped it offset cuts to its budget.
An example, he said, was a change in strategy on how it goes about fixing potholes.
Mr Spencer said response targets had been relaxed to ensure a "more planned approach" could be enforced, which he argued would lead to more permanent repairs.
Comments
by Derby_born
Sunday, January 06 2013, 5:38PM
“@StolenID Antony_Rol is correct? That even the DVLA refer to it as "road tax" or that it does not exist? Talk about petty minded comments!”
by stolen_ID
Sunday, January 06 2013, 4:53PM
“Derby_born whining about someone else being petty minded and pedantic?
That's rich
Did you get a greenhouse for Christmas derby_born?
Antony_rol is correct road tax was abolished in 1930's and the road fund known as VED is a central taxation and does not go towards road repairs, while road users have a right to be concerned as the councillor puts it, they shouldn't expect roads to be repaired out of their VED (car tax) payments”
by Andrew_Ilson
Sunday, January 06 2013, 1:51PM
“In my view VED should be abolished, made up by an increase in duty on fuel. Those who use the roads more, pollute more and damage the roads more would pay more.”
by Derby_born
Sunday, January 06 2013, 12:12PM
“Antony_Rol, "that's why even the DVLA refer to it as road tax", so your original whine about Councillor Ray Russell referring to this as "road tax" was just a case of you being petty minded and pedantic! You should have explained this ealier!”
by DerbyVillager
Sunday, January 06 2013, 11:47AM
“@Antony_Rol,
So you take this discussion off topic by being pedantic about whether it is called Vehicle Excise Duty or Road Tax! Very mature.
Everyone knows what he is talking about so just grow up.”
by Antony_Rol
Saturday, January 05 2013, 7:33PM
“Kermit,
I don't need to try and appear clever, I am. I'm also not the green frog having my strings pulled by someone else ;)
Derby born
Why would I blame the rain on thatcher, or anything else for that matter, I've never made my political allegiances known on this site. But for your records, thatcher was a great PM, not perfect at the time, and what she did to the miners and shipbuilders/dockers was despicable but we haven't had any better since”
by Antony_Rol
Saturday, January 05 2013, 7:29PM
“Derby born
Note from your own link the reference to VED -
.....this latest campaign to recover the millions of pounds lost each year in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) evasion.
No need to apologise for the mix up Chris, that's why even the DVLA refer to it as road tax, because thats what people still think its called, so it appears in more google searches, maybe you might like to google "Churchill 1937 road tax" to see he abolished what was the road fund and replaced it witha general taxation on the car, with road maintenance budget coming from a central pot”
by Antony_Rol
Saturday, January 05 2013, 7:21PM
“It's Vehicle excise duty derby_born, has been since Churchill abolished the road tax in 1937
And why would I blame thatcher for anything, I dont believe I have ever made my political allegiance known on here
I don't need to appear clever Kermit, I'm not the green frog with someone else pulling my strings :)”
by Stale
Saturday, January 05 2013, 4:20PM
“It'll be the rain the dance between Clegg and Cameron surely. :)”
by Derby_born
Saturday, January 05 2013, 4:01PM
“@stale, Antony_Roll said that "road tax" does not exist, yet the Department of Transport clearly disagree as they have launched a campaign to get people to inform on motorists who are evading "Road Tax.
To be quite honest, I am surprised that Antony Roll did not blame Margaret Thatcher for the rain!”