Moray's roads network deteriorating fast

A REPORT outlining the deteriorating state of Moray's roads shows they are worsening faster than expected.

Six years ago Moray Council made the cost-cutting decision to allow its £1.667 billion road network to deteriorate in order to focus on other services. It set a target at that time to be at mid-point in a national Road Condition Indicator table of Scotland's 32 local authorities.

However, the figures from last year show roads deterioration in the area is increasing more aggressively than in previous years. Compared to other local authorities, Moray has had the most severe network deterioration during the last six years.

A report to the committee stated: "Moray’s road network is now deteriorating at a pace which will likely result in us being either at or below mid-table before the end of the revised five-year period, which commenced in April 2017."

Less money is being invested in Moray's biggest physical asset – despite the network growing year-on-year as new developments are built.

Chairman of the council's economic development and infrastructure committee, Councillor Graham Leadbitter, said: "The policy in place at the moment is that the council is aiming to be mid-table among local authorities in terms of road condition.

"That was always envisaged as a short-term policy and that policy is getting close to the end of its life.

"We are going to have to look at this carefully to make sure that our roads don't go off a cliff-edge, otherwise we'll end up costing ourselves a lot more in the longer term."

Independent Councillor Gordon Cowie (Buckie) said: "Roads are deteriorating a lot faster than we thought they would. We should be keeping a very close eye on this because our roads are going from bad to worse and there will come a day when we don't have the finance to repair them. It won't be repairing them – it'll be reconstructing them."

Independent Councillor George Alexander (Forres) said: "We're getting to the point where if we don't reverse this policy we're going to end up suffering severely and paying a high cost."

Last year, capital funding of £2.04 million was allocated for roads maintenance. But modelling shows that by 2022-23, around £6.7 million will be needed to maintain mid-table position and that will rise to around £11.5 million by 2025-26.

Mr Leadbitter said the committee was in a "chicken and egg" situation in that it had no power to set budgets and could not adjust the policy until the budget was known.

Stephen Cooper, head of direct services – roads, waste management, transportation, said: "We can't look at this in isolation – we have to look at the capital plan across the whole council. There will be discussions to see what investment can be put into the roads when we consider the capital plan. In due course that will be going to members for consideration."

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