Fears voiced that Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council won't be able to keep up £5m road repair bill
Blackburn with Darwen Council’s £5million a year drive to tackle potholes and improve, maintain and repair its roads faces is at risk because of a lack of cash, climate change and meeting carbon reduction targets.
Those fears have been expressed by the authority’s growth boss, Councillor Quesir Mahmood in a report to colleagues about the effectiveness of the latest 11-page Highways Asset Management Policy.
He said: “The biggest challenge the highway service faces is maintaining the required levels of service across the network with insufficient funding from the Department for Transport against the significant challenges faced including increasing traffic volume, climate change and inflation to name but a few.
“The levels of service provided by our road network may become ever more difficult to maintain as the departments that provide these services are heavily dependent upon funding received and the maintenance works they can deliver.”
He said the main risks are:
• Lack of sufficient funding and resources to continue to undertake asset management correctly, effectively and fully resulting in the deterioration of assets, loss of value and increased risks over time
• Not managing assets in a strategic, data led and efficient way;
• The cumulative effects of historic underinvestment in routine and preventative maintenance on many parts of the highway and its associated assets rendering any strategy and approach we now take being ineffective without significant funding to address issues;
• Implementing stringent carbon reduction targets
• Loss of business, development and inward investment into Blackburn with Darwen due to a potentially poorly managed and poor-quality supporting road network
• Climate change and severe weather events and their effects presenting new and complex challenges with uncertainty on how vulnerable highway assets will be and how they will perform under exposure to increased and unknown weather conditions;
• economic and political changes or austerity, recession, inflation and market instability.
Coun Mahmood said: “Our policy and its commitments are to take into consideration these risks and their potential impacts with an aim to mitigate the potential negative outcomes as far as practicably possible.”
Where does the money come from in Blackburn with Darwen?
The council spends around £5m on highways assets annually, the majority of which is funded by grant provided by government but also, in the case of general highways maintenance, from council tax. The Highways Asset Management Policy defines Blackburn with Darwen Council’s intended commitments and aspirations to efficiently and effectively manage highways and highway assets including roads, footpaths, bridges, drains and all associated technological infrastructure.