THE SHOW OF SHOWS
Stirling Council is to spend at least £750,000 in extra cash in a bid to tackle the severe impact on local roads and footpaths of recent freezing conditions.
Tory councillors had originally lodged a motion asking for £750,000 to be released from reserves for the repairs to the road network.
Following a break for discussions between the group leaders about the wording of the motion at a meeting on Thursday, the council unanimously approved the use of the funds.
The £750,000 will be released immediately to help road services in dealing with repairing potholes and other road and footpath work caused by the recent wintry weather.
Officers have already been carrying out a survey to determine the condition of the roads and this will now report back to the environment and housing committee, when members will consider the
results and consider how much more the council can afford to spend.
Councillors were clear that the £750,000 sum had to be spent on substantive repairs and not for further temporary repairs to the network, which should continue to be undertaken from existing budgets.
Environment and housing convener Councillor Jim Thomson said: “I don’t think anyone can argue that we need to spend money to get the roads back into better condition.
“As soon as this was apparent I asked officers to conduct a survey. I don’t think £750,000 will go anywhere near enough but we are in a better position that we thought because some government money should also be coming our way for repairs. We are just putting down a marker. I hope we don’t have to spend too much more from reserves but if we have to spend more then we have to.”
Tory group leader Councillor Neil Benny said: “I’ve never seen the road network as bad as this in many a year. It was really important we committed to spending money right now, that is what our motion was there to do.
“It won’t be enough but it is a start and the council needed to take the first opportunity to make that move. I had discussions with officers to find out what extra work they could cope with and set the amount accordingly so let’s get on with it and start repairing our roads. Council Tax has just gone up and people have a right to see their money spent where it is needed not sitting in the council’s bank account.”
Green councillor Alasdair Tollemache welcomed the decision, adding: “This will include our pavements and cycle routes, which is vital as this is a safety issue for our residents and cyclists.”