As your local councillor I am often asked about the state of the highway so I thought it might be helpful to write about Wiltshire Council’s investment in our roads, and how spending is prioritised.
Wiltshire Council is evidence-led, with prevention and early intervention in all service areas from Adult Social Care and Children’s Services to Highways. Last year we were able to invest an EXTRA £22m into Wiltshire’s roads – to put that into perspective, we only received £20.7m from Government for highways maintenance, so we have more than doubled the national budget. Many councils across the country can’t afford to spend anything more than the Government’s contribution because they have placed themselves in a precarious financial position through poor management. Wiltshire residents are seeing more resurfacing and repairs, and fewer potholes, a fact that has been picked up by both the national press and the DfT, who have both made comparisons of councils across the UK.
In addition to increasing investment we are using new machines called Bobcats, which can remove and replace large areas of road in a matter of minutes, before moving on to the next job. This is far better than the quick temporary involving cold-lay tarmac we have used in the UK for too long.
Now I know what some of you will be thinking… what about the stretch of road between the crossroads in West Lavington and the entrance to Market Lavington, or indeed the stretch between Market Lavington and Easterton! It is worth mentioning how work is prioritised:
All Highways investment follows an evidence-led, risk-based approach. The continuous inspection regime determines the risk to motorists and residents and considers the classification of the road and the amount of traffic it receives (A roads seeing far greater usage and potential risk than B and C roads, for example).
There is a rolling Highways Maintenance Programme for Wiltshire split by Area Boards, available to view on the Wiltshire Council website. I’m pleased that the Devizes area plan includes the B3098 in Market Lavington / Easterton (2025/26), Fiddington Clay/Hill (2025/26) and Kings Road in Easterton (2025/26).
The £22m additional investment would not be possible without the Council’s careful financial management (which also allowed me to promote Black Dog Crosswords for additional funding). There is much more to come as we continue to invest significant sums into replacing and extending the life of our road surfaces, preventing flooding, replacing road signs and reinstating and painting new road markings. I will continue to keep you updated on the Highways programmes and as always, please do use the My Wilts app to report any local issues.
You may contact me about this or any other matter by email to dominic.muns@wiltshire.gov.uk or by phone on 07585 394 178.
