Spending on road maintenance almost doubled under Wokingham Borough Council’s previous Conservative administration, while the current Liberal Democrat leadership has failed to increase it.
In 2018/19 spending on road maintenance was £3.8 million, and in the last Conservative Budget 2022/23 spending had risen to £6.5 million. However, the Liberal Democrat administration which set budgets in 2023 and 2024 has kept the same level of spending despite inflation. This is despite the fact that doing so amounts to a real-terms cut.
In the Conservative’s 2018 Budget, £2.28 million was ear marked under “Highways Carriageways Structural Maintenance”, with £1.5 million set for fixing potholes.
In 2020, a new budget line was added by the then Conservative administration to the Capital Budget, “Wokingham Highways Investment Strategy”. This budget item provided extra funding for investment in the Borough’s roads.
During the same period revenue spending on fixing potholes also increased.
Cllr Charles Margetts, Shadow Executive Member for Highways and Transport said:
“When the previous Conservative administration left office, more money was being spent on road maintenance than had been in 2018/19.
“Road maintenance spending had increased from £3.8 million in 2018 to £6.5 million when we went into Opposition.”
“Conservatives invested in our residents’ priorities including road maintenance.
“Under the Liberal Democrats motorists have been hammered by enormous increases in parking charges. Yet capital spending on road maintenance has not increased at all.
“Many residents rely on their cars. They are rightly frustrated and fed up with this.”
“Conservatives want to support residents however they choose to travel, whether by car, public transport, cycling, or on foot.”
