Questions from Caithness campaign group over road survey 'delay'
Campaigners in Caithness are pressing Highland Council over the timescale for releasing details of an annual survey assessing the state of roads, amid continuing concern over potholes.
Caithness Roads Recovery (CRR) this week submitted a Freedom of Information request to the local authority following what the group called "an apparent delay" in the publication of results from the annual Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey.
The survey results in 2021 found that Highland was ranked 26th out of Scotland's 32 councils for performance, a significant drop since 2011 when it was 11th on the list.
Speaking on Tuesday, CRR co-founder Iain Gregory said: "We have been asking for some weeks now when the report is to be made public by Highland Council.
"We are aware that they are in possession of the document and the latest update we have came from Councillor Matthew Reiss [Thurso and Northwest Caithness], who has made several enquiries to Inverness seeking updates.
"It seems that when he made his most recent contact he was told that the report was being 'sense-checked'.
"I have absolutely no idea what that means, but I do know that Caithness roads are in a state of collapse and that the public are entitled to be made aware of the content of this important survey."
Mr Gregory added: "We have today submitted a formal Freedom of Information request to Highland Council, asking two very simple questions.
"We wish to know, firstly, when will the report be made public? And secondly, the position achieved by Highland Council on the list of the 32 Scottish local authorities so assessed.
"These are fairly simple questions and we look forward to a very swift response, certainly within the statutory period of 20 working days as stipulated by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2022."
Councillor Reiss has issued an invitation to the newly installed interim chief executive of Highland Council, Kate Lackie, to visit Caithness to see the condition of roads in the county.
Earlier, Councillor Reiss said he was seeking an explanation about a shortage of staff in the local authority's roads teams in Caithness and Sutherland. He has been informed that the council is short of four employees in Caithness, while he understands Sutherland may have even more vacancies.