Repairing Newcastle's "astronomical" pothole backlog would cost £185m
Council leaders are demanding more money from Government to help
Repairing the “astronomical” number of potholes on Newcastle’s roads would cost £185 million, council bosses say.
City leaders have demanded a major cash injection from the Government to deal with an escalating backlog of highway maintenance work, which has been growing for years.
While the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the “biggest-ever funding uplift for local road improvements” last November, promising more than £8 billion across the nation up to 2034, Newcastle’s share of that would be nowhere near enough to carry out its existing list of required road renewals.
Transport chiefs have been warning of a spiralling pothole problem in the city for years – with the estimated bill for fixing damaged roads and pavements having jumped from £116 million in 2018 to £184 million in 2021.
A new report from Newcastle City Council now confirms that the backlog on just the roads has risen to £185 million.
It states: “Despite significant investment over the years, our highway assets are continuing to deteriorate. An ever-increasing number of repairs, renewals and improvements are required and the city-wide maintenance backlog for our roads alone is estimated to be £185 million.”
Asked on Monday night by Lib Dem councillor Peter Lovatt whether the council would be able to deal with the “astronomical” number of potholes, Labour council leader Nick Kemp said that the cash given to the local authority by the Government was “no longer sufficient”.
Coun Kemp told a cabinet meeting: “This is another failure of infrastructure nationally. We cannot manage that asset without appropriate and adequate funding from central government.”
Last November, transport secretary Mark Harper announced an £8.3 billion plan to resurface more than 5,000 miles of road over 11 years – described as “one of the key cornerstones” of the Rishi Sunak’s Network North initiative, with money redirected from the scrapped northern leg of the HS2 rail project.
Under that scheme, Newcastle has been promised a “minimum” funding uplift of almost £29 million up to 2034 – enough to cover roughly 16% of the city’s existing pothole backlog, without factoring in further deterioration.
Labour cabinet member Paul Frew told Monday evening’s civic centre meeting that part of the problem was that cars “keep getting bigger” and thereby put more strain on roads, while also claiming Newcastle was at a disadvantage compared to larger counties like Northumberland.
He said: “The longer this goes on, the more money we will need from the Government. The funding formula that they have for additional money is related to miles of road rather than the use of them. And it doesn’t include pavements.
“We get a disproportionately poor deal compared to, say, Northumberland, which has a lot of miles and not much pavement. National government needs to think about how that is funded.”
The DfT was contacted for a response.
The Prime Minister said last November: "For too long politicians have shied away from taking the right long-term decisions to make life easier for hardworking families – tackling the scourge of potholes being a prime example. Well-maintained road surfaces could save drivers up to £440 each in expensive vehicle repairs, helping motorists keep more of the cash in their pocket.
“This unprecedented £8.3 billion investment will pave the road for better and safer journeys for millions of people across the country and put an end to the blight of nuisance potholes.”