Caithness councillor Raymond Bremner hits back in council roads row
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A blistering assessment of the condition of local road surfaces sparked a bitter political exchange at Highland Council.
Councillors largely divide into two camps – those who believe that progress on repairs has been “positive” and those who say the local authority has “utterly failed.”
But tempers flared at the environment and infrastructure committee as it considered capital investment as well as the Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey Results 2020-21.
The survey found that Highland is now ranked 26th out of 32 councils for performance, a major drop since 2011 when it ranked 11th. Just under 40 per cent of Highland carriageways, excluding trunk roads, need maintenance work. A decade ago it was under 30 per cent.
The report to the committee highlighted how additional funding for maintenance introduced in the budget “still falls short of the estimated figure of
£26 million to maintain a steady state road condition.”
Councillor Andrew Jarvie alleged some roads budget funding will go unused and slammed the “continued utter failure of this political leadership to get a grasp of the seriousness of our road situation.”
He said: “A report ranks this council at 26 out of 32 local authorities in Scotland for road conditions – that’s one of the worst in Scotland.
“So my question is, when is someone going to get a grasp of the dire road situation in Highland and who is going to take responsibility for the continued failure of this regional council in addressing the issue?”
SNP group leader Raymond Bremner defended the council’s record, taking his own ward as an example to “correct” Cllr Jarvie, citing recently allocated funds on top of what had already been budgeted for Caithness.
“By the time that we get to the end of this financial year we will have spent £1.5 million on Caithness roads,” he said. “That includes a third of a million pounds between now and March by a contractor. You need to get your facts right.”
Cllr Jarvie snapped back: “Those are the words of the council leader, Raymond. Do your job as an opposition leader – pathetic.”
