MEMBER of the Senedd for North Wales Carolyn Thomas has welcomed the announcement of increased funding to repair potholes as part of the Welsh Government’s draft budget.
The draft budget, announced on Tuesday, includes a £25m road improvement fund, alongside unlocking £60m of local government borrowing to fix potholes and repair pavements. Combined, these measures are earmarked to fix 100,000 potholes across Wales.
Carolyn Thomas, who before being elected as a Member of the Senedd, was a Flintshire County Councillor and Cabinet Member responsible for highways and transport, and who now chairs the Senedd’s Cross-Party Group on Public Transport, has said that the investment is ‘vital’.
Carolyn said: “Whether we are walking, using a bike, car, or bus, we all benefit from well-maintained highways and pavements. It is vital that the deterioration of their condition through more than a decade of funding cuts is reversed.
“This investment is the beginning of that reversal, and will bring much-needed public investment into roads and pavements.”
Earlier this year, as part of the Welsh Government’s ‘listening exercise’ following the election of Eluned Morgan as First Minister, Carolyn Thomas and the First Minister canvassed the views of Flintshire residents in Connah’s Quay. It was ‘clear’ from that exercise, says Carolyn Thomas, that people wanted road repairs to be prioritised.
She said: “During the listening exercise, the issue brought up most frequently with Eluned and myself was the condition of our roads, and the increased number of potholes.”
Once the ‘listening exercise’ was concluded, the First Minister unveiled her four ‘priorities’, one of which was connecting communities through fixing roads.
Carolyn added: “I’ve been calling for increased funding for highways for years, and for that funding to be further devolved to local authorities who have the knowledge and expertise to best fix the problems.
“Earlier this year, I visited Flintshire County Council to be shown their new JCB Pothole Pro machine, which is already fixing potholes more efficiently and at lower cost than traditional methods.
“This new funding will now help local authorities like Flintshire go further and faster in fixing our roads and pavements.”
