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North East road preservation experts say £6 billion pothole fund is lacking

North East road preservation experts Velocity have welcomed a £6 billion national pothole fund but say it is not nearly enough to tackle a problem that blights road-users across the country.

The Department of Transport has allocated the cash for councils to repair an estimated 18 million potholes across England and Wales over the next six years.

Velocity, who have repaired more than 400,000 potholes in 2014, praised the government for their long-term planning in a difficult economic climate but stressed that the £6 billion was less than half of what is needed to bring the nation’s roads back to acceptable levels.

And the Sunderland firm expressed disappointment at a “raw deal” for North-East councils.

Velocity managing director Dominic Gardner said: “This funding isn’t going to save Britain’s roads, the Asphalt Industry Alliance has estimated that £12 billion is needed now to get Britain’s roads back into reasonable condition.

“So £6 billion over six years is only half of what is needed – and the nation’s roads will deteriorate further in that time.

“The level of funding allocated is nowhere near enough to solve the nation’s pothole epidemic but it is clear that, in difficult economic circumstances, the government has tried to take a long-term view.

“Although it is disappointing the funds have not been ring-fenced to ensure they are spent purely on road preservation, it is positive that councils are being incentivised to spend these funds on roads and to look for innovative long-term solutions.

“We’re disappointed that the North-east region appears to have lost out compared to wealthier areas of the country.”

Although it has carried out more than 400,000 pothole repairs across the country in 2014, only a small proportion have been carried out in the firm’s native North-East.

North-east councils have been allocated up to £268 million over the next six years, a sum considerably smaller than funds allotted for other areas of England and Wales.

Work was carried out in both Redcar and Cleveland and in Stockton-on-Tees, while Velocity is looking forward to working with Middlesbrough too in the New Year, but the bulk of the firm’s work was carried out in Herefordshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Cheshire East, Gloucester, Suffolk, Derbyshire and Bedfordshire.