Council puts £1.5m more aside for north Northamptonshire road repairs

An extra £1.5m will be spent on repairing north Northamptonshire’s roads after a council’s decision to set aside cash from its budget underspend.

The money will be put into a reserve specifically to enable the repairs after North Northamptonshire Council’s (NNC) executive committee made the decision yesterday.

The money, taken from its budget underspend for 2021/22, will be used for pothole repairs, white line painting, overgrown vegetation clearance and sign cleaning. These works are additional to budget commitments already made for highways services.

Cllr Graham Lawman, NNC’s executive member for highways, travel and assets, said: “Our roads and pavements are used by everybody and it’s great that we can invest this money in their upkeep as well as trim overgrown trees and bushes. It’s also important that we keep our signage and white lines clean and clear as well for the safety of road users.

“£1.5m is a significant sum that will enable us to further enhance the improvements that we are already making to the network. Together with the innovative new contract just awarded to Kier, I'm really delighted that residents can look forward to seeing better surfaces for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers in many places, paid for by good housekeeping.”

Cllr Jason Smithers, leader of the council, added: “I believe sound financial management is essential and I am very conscious that this is taxpayer’s money.

“I therefore feel it is important that this underspend is used to invest in important areas for residents and communities such as improving the quality of our roads, repairing potholes, white lining, sign cleaning and cutting back vegetation.”