Over £2 million capital spend on Caithness roads expected in this financial year, says Wick councillor
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CAITHNESS is expected to have just over £2 million to spend on its roads in this financial year, according to a north councillor.
Raymond Bremner, a Wick and East Caithness ward representative and leader of Highland Council, said the capital investment funding should mean that more roads in the county are repaired than had been anticipated.
It was previously stated that there would be money for only 13 of around 118 roads needing attention but additional funding has been made available which could result in that figure going up to about 70.
However, councillor Bremner stressed that no decisions will be made until next month. He said: "These are my own calculations and determinations according to the agreement at the council's budget meeting at the beginning of March and information available already in the public domain. The final updated capital list for Caithness will be presented at the next Caithness Area Committee in May."
Councillor Bremner expects the capital spend on roads in Caithness to be £2,055,272. "What is really important is that, this year, all of that amount will be for tar on roads. That would be, by a considerable margin, the biggest capital investment in tarring for roads in Caithness."
He added: "Applying £2.055m to the list (of 118 roads), it takes it down to what was number 70. I consider this to be a minimum of the works that could be undertaken in Caithness and more could be undertaken if the need is evidenced against other areas."
He also pointed out that the council's base capital budget of £12.3 million will be allocated according to a current distribution formula while an additional £7.7million will be distributed to the areas that need it most.
Councillor Bremner said: "There is absolutely no doubt that the poor condition of our roads has been exacerbated by the winter conditions. Over the Easter period the officers are assessing several areas of road in Caithness where there is considerable damage that has happened over winter and will be adjusting the list accordingly."
The extra money for roads was welcomed by Thurso and Northwest Caithness ward councillor, Ron Gunn, who said it was "a bit of goods news" for the county.
Speaking at last week's meeting of the Castletown and District Community Council, he said it would cost around £5 million to do all the roads on the list.
Councillor Gunn, who chairs the Caithness Committee, also pointed out that Highland Council has agreed to try and persuade the Scottish Government to provide more funding to deal with the condition of the roads.
"We will have to wait and see if we get any joy from that," he said.
Councillor Gunn said the amount of money the local authority paid out in compensation for damage to vehicles from pot holes amounted to £31,000 in 2021/22. The figure for 2020 was £2500.
"That is a lot of money and money which comes out of the roads budget. It should have been for the roads. That is the total to the end of 2022 but I believe there will be more claims coming," he added.
