Council plans to spend further £1m on repairing potholes across West Northamptonshire after freezing weather

Another £1 million is set to be ploughed into trying to improve West Northamptonshire’s roads after freezing weather wreaked havoc over recent months.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) was already due to spend £12.2 million of its own money and a further £4.7 million grant on repairs in 2023/24.

WNC’s cabinet member for highways, Councillor Phil Larratt, conceded the state of the area’s roads “is not getting any better”, despite the authority’s efforts. He said he hoped “more efficient and effective machinery” could help to get jobs done more quickly.

He told a WNC cabinet meeting on Monday (February 13): “I think we all know the state of the roads in West Northamptonshire is not getting any better despite our efforts.

“Far too many [potholes] get repaired and then within six months to a year you’re back out trying to clear them again. It’s a question of speeding it up and being more efficient,” he added.

Cllr Larratt said about 3,000 people responded to WNC’s consultation into the 2023/24 budget and that a “significant” number of those raised concerns about the state of roads and potholes.

The spending plan, which will include the £4.7 million grant from the Department for Transport and the £1 million taken from a transformation reserve, is set to be passed as part of the council’s budget for 2023/24 next Wednesday, February 22.

At the cabinet meeting on Monday, the council also set an amendment to its planned parking charges increase. Read more about that here.