Derbyshire County Council given 'far less' money for road repairs this year

A Derbyshire council is set to receive more than £3m to spend on road maintenance - but says it is 'far less' than what was given last year. Derbyshire County Council's Cabinet will consider a report at a meeting on Wednesday, September 18, which seeks formal approval to accept the funding which, once accepted, will be spent on resurfacing roads and preventing potholes.

It comes in addition to the base capital funding the council gets from the Government each year for maintaining roads, pavements, structures and all other highways assets. The council's member for highways, assets and transport, Charlotte Cupit, said: "Although we do welcome this additional money, it is so far less than we were given in total last year.

“We know that the condition of roads is rightly really important to residents and, particularly given the weather challenges we’ve faced over recent years, we are trying to maximise all funding we currently have to have the biggest impact on permanent repairs and resurfacing. As we have been doing with the funding received last year, we will be focusing this money on the full resurfacing of as many sections of roads and pothole hotspots as we can."

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Earlier this year, the council outlined 31 key routes that it was planning to invest in as a priority in a previous investment worth £5 million. The sites include:

• Alfreton, Abbott Road

• Alfreton, B600 High Street

• Ambergate, A6 Derby Road

• Arkwright Town, A632 Sutton Lane roundabout

• Barlborough, A616 Oxcroft Way

• Belper, A6 Chapel Street

• Bolsover, Hill top/A632 Market Place junction

• Buckland Hollow, A610 Ripley Road

• Buxton, B5059 Dale Road

• Buxton, A53 Leek Road

• Buxton, A6 Fairfield Road from Buxton Road, Dove Holes to Fairfield Road

• Chesterfield, B6543 Malkin Street/Corporation Street

• Chesterfield, A617 Hasland bypass

• Clay Cross, A6175 Market Street

• Clay Cross, Highgate Road

• Duckmanton, A6192 Markham Lane roundabout

• Duffield, A6 Derby Road

• Duffield, A6 Milford Road

• Eckington, A6135 Littlemoor

• Hadfield, Station Road

• Ilkeston, Hallam Fields Road

• Killamarsh, B6058 Sheffield Road

• New Mills, Laneside Road

• Pinxton, Woodfield Road

• Ripley, Moss Lane

• Sawmills, A610 Ripley Road/Ladygrove

• Shirebrook, Park Road

• Somercotes, New Street

• Stretton, A61 Main Road

• Swanwick, B6179 Derby Road

• Wessington, Brackenfield Lane

Cllr Cupit added: “We are also disappointed that so far we have not heard if the current Government will stick with the previous Government’s plan to invest an extra £8.3billion in roads across the country, but we will keep raising this with the new Government and Regional Mayor and pushing for this urgently needed additional funding for our highways so that we can have a significant impact on improving roads.”

The cabinet report is also seeking approval to continue the work that the council has started on trialling new materials and machinery for repairing roads, which builds on the 'roadmender trial' launched a few weeks ago. A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "This Government is committed to tackling the poor state of our roads and will fix up to one million more potholes a year.

"Decisions about future funding for local highways maintenance will be made in due course."