Council protects money for roads

Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) will protect money for roads in next year's budget in an effort to repair the county's highways after the damaging effects of the recent severe weather.

At a Special Cabinet meeting yesterday (17/02/10), Members decided that the proposal to make savings by cutting £85,000 out of the highways budget was no longer an option. The considerable snow fall of the last two months has left MCC with a highways repair bill of approximately £1million.

Councillor Phil Murphy, Cabinet Member for Resources and Regulatory Services, said:

"We have a responsibility to spend public money as effectively as we can, and also to make efficiency savings where possible. Monmouthshire, as we all know, received a very poor settlement from the Welsh Assembly and we've had to be even more frugal with our budget.

"However, we have had the longest period of cold weather in over 30 years and with that there comes a price. The county's highways structure has taken a considerable hit and we need to address this.

"We are committed in our Medium-Term Financial Plan to invest in the roads infrastructure and do all we can to ensure as robust a network as possible, within funding constraints."

Although the National Assembly for Wales has made some additional money available for roads, it is nowhere near enough to cover the estimated repair bill. Officers of the council will be speaking to the Welsh Assembly.