LISTEN: Highland Council deny gloomy outlook for the state of our roads
Local authority spring into action to combat potholes
Highland Council have denied claims that potholes in the area are costing hundreds of thousands pounds in compensation claims against the authority. Chair of community services, councillor Allan Henderson, said: "People keep bandying these figures around about how much compensation's been paid out and I suspect much of that has come from Transport Scotland, because they seem to pay out quicker whenever there's a problem" "To be fair to people, many get confused between the trunk roads, and the roads that come under Highland Council" An IPSOS Mori poll, carried out in late 2015, ‘Perceptions of the Trunk Road Network Scotland’ found that 55% of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the trunk roads surface and 89% had encountered road defects that were unsafe. Despite calls to address the issue of potholes and surface damage on our roads the local authorities claim they are making best use of ever-tighter budget constraints.
Listen here to more from Cllr Henderson:-
A recent report revealed that Scottish Councils spend around £1,400 a day on pothole compensation claims, with one Scottish Local Authority paying out more than £80,000 over a five year period. However Highland Council say they are at odds with figures suggesting over half a million pounds has been claimed for damage to cars by potholes across the area.