Council will invest £10m to maintain roads and pavements
NORTH Tyneside Council has committed to invest more than £10m over the next five years to maintain its roads and pavements – despite emerging council budget cuts.
Following a review of the council’s proposed budget, which has to find £32.7m of “savings” over the next four years, the local authority has reaffirmed its commitment to £2m per year for roads and pavements until at least 2028/29.
This is in contrast to the government’s “pothole funding”, predicted at around £1.6m for 2024/25.
North Tyneside has included an additional £2m a year for maintenance, on top of its government allocation, since the 2014/15 budget.
However, council bosses said at a cabinet meeting on Monday that central government still needs to step up its funding.
Coun Anthony McMullen, cabinet member responsible for finance and resources, said: “This is an area we simply do not receive enough funding from the government.
“We will continue to lobby to ensure we scale the pressures we and other local authorities face.”
The elected Mayor of North Tyneside Dame Norma Redfearn DBE said that the council is doing the “best” job it can with highways but echoed sentiments for more government support.
Ms Redfearn added: “I have written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper, inviting him to come and visit North Tyneside and see our roads and pavements and let him know that as a council over the last how many years, we have put an extra £2m into our roads and pavements at the same time they cut our budgets.
“We are doing what we can to address our roads, we are not the only council facing this. So, I have invited the Secretary of State and I look forward to his response.”
Dame Norma continued: “It is quite true that our roads and pavements need addressing but without the support from the national government we can only do our best.
“If you think about it, out of a small budget, we put in an extra £2m all the time and I think we are doing our best.”