Meeting of the Parliament 09 May 2018
Last year I apparently drove 19,000 miles around my constituency. Although I am not an expert on potholes, I am certainly very experienced when it comes to them. Highland Council represents a huge road network, with 6,754km of road in its area. Like other members in the chamber—with the exception, apparently, of Tom Arthur—we have problems with potholes, too.
At the beginning of the year—I say this to pay credit where credit is due—Transport Scotland moved very quickly on the A82 and A87 trunk roads on the west coast by releasing an additional £4 million to BEAR Scotland to deal with resurfacing works on those roads. It brought forward its programme of works to get started sooner.
On local authority roads, which is where the real problem is, just a few weeks ago Derek Mackay announced an additional £10 million for local authorities. Highland Council got the largest share of that, which is appropriate, considering the mileage of the road network that it needs to deal with. For me, the priority is that, with that additional funding, with council tax having gone up and with an increase, albeit a small one, to Highland Council’s budget, it is right and fair that Highland Council move as quickly as possible to fill in potholes and resurface roads, which in some areas of my constituency are exceedingly bad.
The problem is not just bad weather. I was being contacted by constituents prior to the bad weather about certain stretches of road in the Highland Council region that desperately need attention. I am very concerned when I see urban roads in the Highland Council area getting quicker treatment than some of the worst rural roads in villages on the west coast of Skye, for example. I would like there to be a clear schedule of works, like the one that Transport Scotland has produced, for improvements to be made quickly, so that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Constituents have contacted me about helping, and Rachael Hamilton mentioned how constituents are choosing to help. We now have tourists starting to arrive. One pair of constituents in particular, Annie and Neil Ferguson, have told me stories about how they have had to help visitors whose hire cars have been damaged by the potholes in the surface of roads on the west coast of Skye, which are Highland Council’s responsibility. Annie wrote to me saying that, last Saturday, the breakdown truck attended her very small village 12 times, and that the Fergusons had personally been involved with seven lots of visitors in the space of a week—feeding them, providing lifts, making phone calls and even changing tyres. They have had German, French, Italian, Slovakian, American and Chinese visitors all coming to ask for help because of difficulties caused by the state of the road. I could cite other stories.
I would love it if Tom Arthur could put his council colleagues in touch with the Labour-Lib Dem-independent administration at Highland Council and perhaps share some ideas as to how the council can make better progress in filling the potholes and ensuring that my constituents can get to work and go about their business without fear of punctures or damaging their cars. There is money there, with £4 million having gone to Transport Scotland, the biggest share of the £10 million going to Highland Council and a decent share of budget this year. The council needs to publish a schedule of works and to get moving as quickly as possible.
17:29