Grass cutting proposals

A PROPOSED new approach to looking after Leicestershire’s roads, pavements, verges and grass cutting is to be considered.

Last year, Leicestershire County Council invited people to share their views on how it carries out highways maintenance.

Now a new highways strategy has been created, which the council’s cabinet will consider adopting.

The authority spent £26m looking after roads, pavements and verges in 2015/16, either directly or through contractors and says it needs to reduce this to £16.5m by 2020.

Coun Blake Pain, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “Our roads are among the best in the country and we want to ensure they are maintained to the best standard they can be, while working with increasingly limited resources.

“If the proposals are approved, people will see a change to the way we carry out repairs and general maintenance.”

Proposals in the new policy and strategy include prioritising high risk repairs when responding to highway defects, focusing on planned maintenance work to help slow down the deterioration of roads, and preventative work will be carried out on a ‘risk based’ approach and determined on how roads are ‘categorised’ in a new classification of highways.

It also plans to discuss with parish councils opportunities for their involvement in local maintenance, such as grass cutting and the maintenance of trees, flower and shrub beds; introduce a targeted approach to gully cleansing, which will help improve service levels; and keep winter services, such as gritting, at current service levels.

It will be discussed by cabinet on Friday, June 23.