Calls for companies that take too long to finish roadworks in Lancashire to be fined
Local councillors have made the plea in an effort to reduce traffic jams
Last updated 16th Dec 2024
There are calls for companies that take too long to finish roadworks in Lancashire to be fined.
It's come from local councillors, who are concerned that utility providers are taking too long to fill in holes that they have dug.
Stats obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) reveal 37,500 sets of highway works were carried out in the Lancashire County Council area – which excludes Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen – in the space of just 12 months.
Of those jobs – undertaken between April 2023 until March this year – 189 of them over-ran and attracted fines from Lancashire County Council totalling almost £343,000.
Separately, 1,337 fixed penalty notices were issued – amounting to £170,000 – for offences including breaches of the permit for the work, issued by County Hall, which occurred on 413 occasions – or failing to obtain such permission in the first place, which happened 97 times.
However, the majority of those penalty charges – 580 – were levied in instances where the utility firms had failed to give notice that their roadworks would be “unreasonably delayed”. A further 247 fines were issued for the failure to advise highways bosses that works had been completed.
Bringing a notice of a motion to a meeting of the full council, County Cllr Ash Sutcliffe – who represents the Pendle Central division – said even the phrase “temporary traffic lights” made drivers “shudder”.
Calling for the county council’s chief executive to write to the government requesting an increase in the charges that can be levied for over-running works, he said: “We must have the power to hold companies to account and get our roads moving again as soon as possible.
“I’m sure that I’m not the only councillor who’s had comments from residents saying there are traffic lights and cones in the road, but nobody is working. They’re not working on a Saturday and Sunday…on a Bank Holiday Monday…or of an evening,” County Cllr Sutcliffe added.
Under current legislation, the maximum fines for roadworks exceeding their agreed finish date vary according to the significance of the route on which they are taking place – from £250 per day up to £10,000 per day for the longest over-runs on the busiest roads.
However, they do not apply at weekends or on bank holidays – and the county council’s lead member for highways, Scott Smith, said some permit breaches by utility companies can result in fixed penalty notices of as little as £80.
“To multi-billion pound companies…it barely even registers as petty cash – and the idea that it acts as a deterrent to bad behaviour on our roads is for the birds.
“This is not about making it difficult for contractors to do their work efficiently. We all need electricity, gas, water and broadband – and upgrades to those utilities often make a real difference to the quality of our lives."