APPG Meeting November 2018

AIA representatives recently attended a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Highways, which it supports.

The group, chaired by Sir Christopher Chope MP, welcomed speakers from Oxfordshire County Council – Councillor Yvonne Constance, Cabinet Member for the Environment (including Transport) and Paul Fermer, Assistant Director – Infrastructure Operations.

Cllr Constance explained to the Group how Oxfordshire has implemented a forward-thinking approach to investing in roads maintenance to improve conditions and save money in the long-term.

With a cut in the roads budget of 50 per cent since 2011, Cllr Constance set out how the forecasted increase in Council Tax that will be generated as result of the planned development of 100,000 new homes has been brought forward to be spent on road improvements.

She and Paul explained that the council had determined that the managed decline approach to road maintenance, imposed by budget constraints, sat incongruously with Oxfordshire’s ambitious growth plans and aims to improve transport links within the county, such as the key A420 which services many SMEs working between Swindon and Oxford.

As a result, the council now plans to use £10 million each year from its ‘growth dividend’ derived from the increasing numbers of new homes now paying Council Tax to implement a planned preventative approach to local road maintenance.

AIA Chairman, Rick Green said: “The APPG on Highways helps to keep the importance of local roads funding on the agenda. Oxfordshire’s invest to save approach will not only improve road conditions it also makes financial sense – as planned preventative maintenance is reported to be 20 times less expensive per square metre than reactive work such as patching and mending potholes”

Full meeting minutes and Cllr Constance’s notes can be viewed here.