Councillors issue plea for information on road repairs as £1 million spent in 5 years

During the most recent area partnership, a verbal report was brought before members of the committee highlighting the figure, but concerns were raised from councillors who wanted more information on what streets had been invested in.

They also asked that a written report be brought before all future meetings.

Councillor Elaine McDougall said: “I think one of the streets I highlighted the last time was Cobden Road. We have pavements on main routes that have been subject to a patchwork repair.

“In future, don’t ask me to agree to a report without any papers available because I certainly won’t be. It would be useful to see what work has been carried out and on what streets because I did express my concern about Cobden Road.”

Chairman councillor Allan Casey, pointed out that written reports had been previously made available to members allowing them to see the list of projects that are potentially going ahead.

Councillor Casey said: “We used to receive a report that outlined work that had taken place in terms of road investment and the future work being carried out over the next six month period.

“It would be helpful to know what roads have been invested in the ward itself so we can get a totality of the work that has taken place.

“It should be the norm to get written reports and the exception to get verbal ones so we can scrutinise what is happening.”

Responding to these concerns a council officer apologised for misunderstanding the wishes of the committee and emphasised that £1 million had been spent on repairs.

He said: “I think from our perspective, we haven’t understood quite clearly what the communication was so on behalf of the team I apologise for that.

“We’ve brought together what we have done in the last five years in the ward and we have spent £1 million in the ward.

“We will provide a more detailed report at the next meeting.”