Cabinet members have approved spending government grants totalling more than £8 million on transport plans, with more than £2 million going towards pothole repairs.
Brighton and Hove City Council set out plans to spend £8.3 million on capital projects as part of its Local Transport Plan and these were approved by the council’s cabinet yesterday (Thursday 24 April).
The proposals include the full resurfacing of stretches of Ditchling Road, Dyke Road Avenue, Dyke Road, Hangleton Road, Station Road and Boundary Road, Viaduct Road and Waterloo Street.
Surface work is also planned for several other roads, including Union Road, Shirley Drive, London Road, Buckingham Place, New Church Road and King George VI Avenue, known locally as Snakey Hill.
Green councillor Pete West welcomed plans to resurface two sections of Ditchling Road from Viaduct Road to Springfield Road and Grantham Road to Preston Road.
But he was concerned about the poor condition of roads along busy bus routes.
Councillor West said: “While many residents will welcome the inclusion of their streets, I cannot understand the rationale whereby so many lightly used roads, including short cul-de-sacs, are to be improved while busy bus routes, that are in no better condition than farm tracks, for example Carden Hill, remain overlooked.
“Given the scale of public funding being committed here, does the cabinet member agree that detail of the rationale behind each proposed improvement should have been included … so that the public would be able to see how the prioritisation choices have been arrived at?”
Labour councillor Trevor Muten, the cabinet member for transport and parking, said that the priorities were data-led and based on a planned and objective approach.
He said that Carden Hill would be included in the current 2025-26 financial year, which started at the beginning of this month.
He said that it was suitable for micro-asphalt resurfacing but was not included in a report to the cabinet because the engineer’s verdict was not known until after the report was published.
When presenting the council’s Local Transport Plan capital programme for 2025-26, Councillor Muten said that £2.1 million would go towards pothole repairs, with £4 million for improving roads.
Councillor Muten said: “A pothole is a symptom of a deeper problem. Each Tory pothole is symbolic of the insufficient and shortsighted lack of investment under the Tories in government.
“To put this into context, it costs approximately £200 per square metre to repair a pothole, compared with £10 per square metre to carry out maintenance and prevent them from happening in the first place.
“(It’s) a simple fact that makes the shortfall in funding by the previous government so shocking and so shortsighted.”
The Labour deputy leader of the council Jacob Taylor said: “Conservative councillors, who are not here, often pop up and point at potholes but their party created them.”
He said that residents in his Moulsecoomb and Bevendean ward were happy to see Hillside was the first road to be resurfaced in the new financial year.
The council also plans to spend £620,000 on improving pavements, £3 million on safety and accessibility, £1.2 million on measures to boost cycling and walking, £325,000 on making streets around school safer and £125,000 on bike hire and cycle parking.
Strange comment from Cllr Jacob Taylor. Does he really think the Conservative Councillors spend their time digging holes to create potholes? So many potholes in this City are left unfilled despite reporting & chasing on a regular basis. There also doesn’t seem to be a plan as to which roads should be resurfaced – especially some side roads which are left untreated for years upon end and the bus routes too.
Opposition councillors get to ask questions at cabinet meetings. I saw yesterday Cllrs Fishleigh, West and Hill took that opportunity. Why didn’t you? Easier to just snipe from online article comment sections than actually do your job at the town hall…
The amount is a drop in the ocean of what’s needed, so unless Labour councillors have the courage to challenge their party leadership in westminster about the dire state of the council’s finances and just how urgent it is for them to do this basic maintenence, it’s just all hot air form Councillor Muten and his pals Bella Jacob et al.
I looked at the report and it the council payments say “We estimated there is a backlog of £57m for roads and £39m for footways.”
The amount the council are allocating will only realistically be enough to stop the roads getting worse, it is nowhere near enough to actually tackle the £96 million backlog of road and pavement repairs. Yet again councillors rely on spin instead of challenging the government on the continuing austerity and the impact locally.
If only a Ward Councillor was a town planner by profession and prioritised what he was elected for, rather than political sniping, eh?
Why does it cost approximately £200 per square meter to repair a pothole when it is a three-dimensional problem. Sums up the councils thinking!
…because that’s how it is measured as a standard unit, Ann?
So a 6ft deep hole costs the same amount to repair as a 6 inch one then? Not being obtuse here but that is clearly incorrect.
You are right about that Ann.
However for simple public figures, councils usually quote pothole repair costs per square metre because most potholes are relatively shallow on average.
If a pothole is unusually deep, it would usually need a special assessment, more materials, and extra work. The ‘per square metre’ figure is just an average, not a one-size-fits-all cost for every hole.
Hope that clarifies a bit!
Most of the potholes reappear within weeks of having been “repaired” – almost as it it could be a ploy.
Sorry about the other holes!
All our operatives are currently very busy permanently screwing up City traffic flow with VG3.
Have a nice day!
BHCC Transport Department
This was a step up from your usual, Tom. Good job!
Spend some that money introducing an app to make it easier to report potholes and highway defects
The council doesn’t need to – Fix My Street sends reports directly to the relevant team (it does lots of other stuff too! It’s really easy to use thanks to My Society
http://www.fixmystreet.com
I thought repairs and maintenance comes out of Council Tax, therefore “Road Tax” doesn’t exist. This seems to enforce that Road Tax is still a thing if the money comes from the government.