Council will borrow £2m to improve ‘sub-standard’ roads

Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

Councillors have voted in favour of borrowing £2.2 million for road maintenance projects, which will be spread across a county.

At a Blaenau Gwent council meeting on Thursday, July 17 councillors discussed the proposed capital investment programme for the next five years.

Up to 2030, the council intends investing £2 million in highways maintenance at a rate of £500,000 a year – this is on top of the £1.36 million which the council spends annually on repairs and maintenance.

Highways investment

Councillors were also asked to agree a funding boost by putting in an extra £2.2 million in the road network over the next two years, which would come from the Welsh Government’s highways investment borrowing initiative.

This would see £1.3 million used this year and a further £900,000 next year.

Council leader Cllr Steve Thomas (Labour) said: “What I’m looking to do is to add enough money so that we can do three residential roads per ward to be decided by members and the highways team.”

He warned that if they agreed to borrow the money and the Welsh Government priorities change which could see them shelve the initiative, councillors may need to “come back” and look at things again.

Independent group leader Cllr Wayne Hodgins said: “It’s long overdue and it’s good to see we are prioritising the residents who have put up with some sub-standard highways.

“We have raised this on many occasions, it’s the biggest asset we’ve got.”

‘As soon as possible’

He asked when would work on the roads start?

Cllr Thomas said: “We will be putting spades in the ground as soon as we can get this report through and the contracts are finalised.”

Cabinet member for neighbourhood and environment services Cllr Tommy Smith (Labour) said: “We want to get it done as soon as possible we have a short window before the end of October.

“This is positive news, we’ve listened to concerns from members and residents.”

Cllr Gareth Alban Davies (Independent group) asked if the money would be “spilt equally” between wards and pointed out some wards have short and others “very” long roads.

Cllr Thomas said that the decisions process would be as “fair and equitable” as can be.

Councillors voted unanimously to invest in the county borough’s road network.