Councillors call for “Roads Reset”

North and West Oxfordshire Greens call on minister to fund a ‘Roads Reset’

Green Party Councillors across the North and West of Oxfordshire have written to the Highways Minister Heidi Alexander calling on her to fund a comprehensive programme of roads repairs across the country in a scheme dubbed as a ‘Roads Reset’.

Detailed proposals, signed by Green leaders and councillors across the region, have been sent with an open letter to the Minister. They are asking for a £20 Billion investment in repairs and reinstatement of roads across the country, and particularly in Oxfordshire.

The Councillors have made the case that the recently announced additional funding for tackling potholes is not enough overall and the share that Oxfordshire will receive will not be sufficient. We have to deal with crumbling road and path infrastructures, especially after repeated severe weather incidents, flooding, and the impact of heavier cars and HGVs.

Councillors have also invited the Minister to visit Oxfordshire to see for herself how bad our roads have become, something that she has already discovered when her own car was recently disabled after hitting a pothole in the county.

Green Group County and Cherwell District Council Leader Ian Middleton said:

“After years of neglect and underfunding by successive governments, we now need definitive action and proper funding to deal with the state of our roads and footpaths. Government financial input to the County budget for road maintenance is simply not at a level that is sustainable in the long term, and the result is a continued deterioration year on year.

We are now literally patching the patches, and after another winter of bad weather coupled with an increase in heavier vehicles, our roads are now in a state of total collapse that local authorities are not equipped or funded to deal with. We need a financial commitment from central government to facilitate an urgent roads reset”.

West Oxfordshire District Council Green group Leader Rosie Pearson said:

“Many of us have suffered from damage and frustration from the state of our roads, especially after January’s severe weather. Nobody thinks this is acceptable. The Green Party approach is to look at the underlying causes of a problem, in order to find a permanent fix.”

North and West Oxfordshire Green Party Co-Chair Liz Reason said :

“It’s not simply repairing potholes but tackling the causes of potholes. We need a systemic approach.“

North and West Oxfordshire Green Party Co-Chair Barry Wheatley said :

“Years of patch-and-pray repairs have left our roads crumbling – damaging vehicles and putting pedestrians, cyclists and drivers at risk. It’s time for Government and Oxfordshire stop papering over the cracks and invest in roads built to last.”