Local authority blasted for‘lack of investment’in roads
A massive £ 116,000 has been shelled out by Renfrewshire Council bosses over the last five years to drivers who have had their cars damaged by potholes.
And almost half of that was given in the last financial year with £45,830 handed over to settle 243 claims in 2017/18.
The largest claim in the last five years came from a driver whose car was damaged in Bishopton on January 3 this year with an eyewatering £2564-worth of repairs needed.
The figures come from a Freedom of Information request made by the Paisley Daily Express to Renfrewshire Council and reveal the true cost of the state of the roads around the district.
Successive administrations have vowed to make fixing potholes a priority but the numbers show there is still a problem.
The top ten highest claims amount to £14,995 and are spread across the area with one claim in Paisley, three in Renfrew, two in Bishopton, and one each in Houston, Brookfield, Bridge of Weir and Hillington.
One of the highest claims was made in 2014 and 2015, two in 2016 and 2017 and four in 2018 – three in January and one in early February.
Councillor John McIntyre, who represents the Paisley Northwest ward, said he receives more complaints about potholes than anything else.
He added: “The roads in Renfrewshire have had a lack of investment for a number of years now and we are paying the price. “It’s been a false economy. “Not only are motorists suffering with poor road surfaces but councils are having to pay out increased levels of claims.
“There needs to be sustained investment in our roads network over a number of years to bring it back up to standard.”
Renfrewshire Council is responsible for maintaining and repairing all roads within the district except for trunk roads and motorways.
Drivers should report potholes using the council’s online fault reporting form.
A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: “Residents can make a claim if they have experienced damage to their vehicle.”
Between April 2013 and March 2014, there were 117 claims made, costing £20,263.
This dropped significantly the following year to just £7,606 from 40 applications but increased again in 2015/16 to £23,055 from 126 cases.
In 2016/ 17, drivers received £19,325 from 96 claims and this more than doubled in the last financial year to 243 applications, resulting in £45,830.
A council spokesperson blamed the more-than-double increase in claims from 96 in 2016/17 to 243 in 2017/18 on the severe winter weather which hit Renfrewshire earlier this year.
She said: “The prolonged severe weather we experienced in January and February of this year led to an increase in the number of claims for the 2017/18 period and we have taken steps to repair the potholes which were left as a result.
“We recognise that a key concern for the community is the quality and safety of our roads network, and earlier this year announced a £ 7.2million investment to improve routes across Renfrewshire as part of the continuing physical and economic regeneration of the area.
“This is the largest ever single year investment made by this council in our roads infrastructure and shows a clear commitment to increasing the quality and usability of our road network.
“Th i s p ro g ramme of improvement is under way and will include carriageway resurfacing, including patching and surface dressing, as well as addressing drainage improvement s, footway resurfacing and crash and safety barrier installation.”
Back in February, a report by the council given to Cosla, detailed the challenge facing the authority’s roads bosses.
Of the area’s 65km of A-class roads, 22.4 per cent were flaggedup for repair in 2016/17.
And the figures increase for the 62km of B-class roads with 27.5 per cent needing work.
Roads chiefs admit 36.9 per cent of C-class roads – which account for 140km of carriageways – should be upgraded, while 36.6 per cent of the 539km of unclassified carriageways require attention.
Progress has been made in repairs, with the number needing treated down from almost 30 per cent in 2010.
But problems on secondary and tertiary routes have remained, with rates of those needing repair almost constant since the turn of the decade.