£2m to sort ‘the kind of thing people see on a day-to-day basis’
Quick fix of gullies, drainage ditches and weeds across county
COUNCIL chiefs are launching a £2 million blitz on damaged gullies, blocked drainage ditches and overgrown weeds on roads across the Staffordshire Moorlands.
‘Quick-win’ improvements will be carried out at known hotspots on local roads, where residents have reported issues with drainage, hedges, grass-cutting or road sweeping.
Along with a one-off targeted investment of £1.9million in the highways network, there will be a further £100,000 for small-scale improvement to public rights of way across the county.
But much of the investment is being directed at areas where the council has previously made budget cuts to service levels.
Staffordshire County Council cabinet members, who approved the new spending at their meeting last week, believe the condition of roads and pavements is a key issue for many residents.
The money, which is due to be spent by the end of next March, will be allocated as follows:
▶ Gully emptying and repairs – £950,000
▶ Drainage ditches – £300,000
▶ Targeted landowner action – £50,000
▶ Grass cutting – £250,000
▶ Sweeping/weed control – £350,000
▶ Public rights of way – £100,000
David Williams, the member for highways and transport, said: “We’ve already allocated £5million in this year’s budget for maintenance and upkeep but we listen to feedback from residents and have decided to add an extra £2million to target some of the areas causing concern.
“Staffordshire has thousands of miles of roads ranging from dual carriageways to remote country lanes and in recent years pressure on public finances has restricted what we can do in the vicinity of our highways.
“But we’ll be using this extra money to target some of the worst trouble spots and reduce the overall backlog.
“We’ll also be working with landowners, or taking direct action where necessary, to make improvements to problem ditches and overhanging trees that they have responsibility for.”
Last month, Ipstones Parish Council announced they were to write to the new leader of the county council, Alan White, over the condition of blocked gullies.
Councillor Linda Malyon said: “The gullies in the area are terrible. Most are blocked. We could give the highway authority a list of those that require maintenance as so many are blocked.”
In 2018/19 the county council moved to an ‘asset based’ regime for tackling drainage issues, which means some gullies are only cleansed once every three years.
The cabinet report says that while this provides the ‘optimum’ maintenance solution to prevent future problems, there remains a legacy of five per cent of gullies which are blocked or slow running.
The current backlog of known drainage issues, some of which are complicated by third-party land ownership, is estimated to exceed £20 million.
This year there has also been an extra £1.6 million in government funding for high priority drainage matters.
In 2020/21, the council reduced the frequency of urban highway grass cutting from eight to six cuts a year, to off-set inflationary pressures.
The £250,000 one-off investment being provided this year will pay for ‘extra’ cuts in autumn and spring.
Similarly, the in-year investment in weed control measures follows the recent decision to reduce highway weed treatment to once a year as part of efficiency savings.
There are currently 2,126 unresolved issues affecting public rights of way across Staffordshire, and the cabinet report says ‘significant investment’ is required to bring the network in a safe and usable condition.
Council leader Alan White backed the £2 million investment. He said: “This is a very welcome report. I think people across Staffordshire who have long been lobbying for this will be delighted to hear this news.”
Philip White, cabinet member for economy, added: “Luckily, most of our residents don’t see most of the excellent work this county council does in terms of caring for the most vulnerable people, and I’m very glad that they don’t see in person where most of their council tax money goes.
“But this is the sort of thing that people do see on a day-to-day basis, I think it’s entirely reasonable that the vast majority of our taxpayers lucky enough not to need our statutory services do see something for their money.”