Highland Council confirms Caithness roads will get worse due to lack of cash
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A “disastrous” Highland Council report revealed the network in Caithness can only get worse due to a lack of funding and 178 roads need work – as one member believes the the "true tally" could be 400.
At the Caithness committee on Monday two of the councillors most insistent on more roads investment, Andrew Jarvie and Matthew Reiss, said unless local and national government took action it was “impossible” to resolve.
The council admitted the roads will deteriorate because funding “falls short” of maintaining “a steady state condition” – essentially not allowing the roads to get any worse or better.
The committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government that the “Highland Council, but particularly Caithness,” needs additional urgent roads capital investment.
Of the 178 roads earmarked for repairs just 13 have been prioritised and are likely to get work done.
Councillor Raymond Bremner insisted that the lengthy list had been produced so members could “see as far in advance as we possibly can”.
Planned maintenance not defective roads
“This list is quite extensive because they have been identified on a programme of planned maintenance," he said. "They are not all going to be done in a oner and we have asked officers to populate the list so we can see as far in advance as we possibly can.
“That is why there are 178 on the list. The officers could have reported 100 or 50, that has been done in previous years, but here in Caithness we have 178 listed and it does not mean that every single road on that list needs to be attended to, it is planned maintenance.
“I can give you an example, Baikie Place in Thrumster – it is first on the list for surface dressing but I am sure officers would take a view as to whether that would be surface dressed if there was a surface dressing programme this year.”
He added: “It is a planned maintenance list not, as I have read recently in the papers, a defective roads list nor is the £4.6 million that that list comes to reflective of potholes in Caithness.”
Disaster – no matter what the roads are only going to get worse
Cllr Jarvie accused the current and former administrations of inaction for years, saying: “I am coming into year six of being in this job and I have not seen anything fundamentally change. This paper we have in front of us is a disaster – it says no matter what option we choose the roads are only going to get worse.
“Many of us agree that the roads are our top priority but how is that reflected in any of the actions that were taken in the chamber? This is not a criticism of staff who work within the budgets agreed by councillors. This is a problem for the councillors and the politicians to fix and I have never seen any leadership on this and I never have.”
The council cannot fix the roads – 'it is impossible'
Cllr Matthew Reiss believes “The roads are disintegrating before our eyes and new projects are cropping up as fast as we can record them.”
“I agree with Cllr Jarvie’s use of the word disaster as far as the roads are concerned. My conclusion is that the council cannot do this financially, it is impossible. Therefore, the council must ask the Scottish Government for emergency funding, I see no other alternative.”
“A few weeks ago the council published a paper with the number of reported defects or complaints: Caithness had 4754, Nairn had 137 and Inverness 2043 – that is the council’s own figures and I think that is some evidence to the way the budget is distributed within Highland Council.
“Last year, we had 114 projects on this list, this year just under 180. I think the true length of the list could be 400, and I think the real costs could be £15 million or £20 million but we don’t actually know. It is much, much worse than this list indicates.”
The council budget will be set on March 2, including road spending.
