FINDING solutions to local highway issues was on the agenda at the recent highways meeting entitled ‘A Different Conversation’, held in Holsworthy’s Memorial Hall on Wednesday, November 16.

This is the second round of meetings held to discuss the road networks and the issues faced by local people in Holsworthy and the surrounding parishes.

The initial meeting was held in June 2016 where officers from Devon County Council’s highways team opened up discussions with representatives from the town and parish councils to collect local intelligence about what they feel are ‘problem’ roads in need of repair.

Speaking on the day Devon County Councillor Barry Parsons said: “Can I just say thank you to everyone here tonight, thank you to our officers and all the parish and town council representatives who have come along to help us identify the local prioritise.

“I would say this is a different conversation — this isn’t happening in other areas. We have a particular problem in this part of Devon that needs addressing and we need to be looking at it in a different way and look at viable answers for the future.”

This latest round of conversations held with the local representatives sought to establish which roads would be considered ‘priorities’ for repair.

It is hoped that, by working with the Devon County Council’s highways team, local parishes and town councils will gather both technical and local intelligence that could be useful to inform them of how best to manage local road networks.

Leading the discussion at the Wednesday meeting was Carl Haggerty, digital communications manager at Devon County Council. He opened the meeting by explaining: “We captured a lot of local intelligence last time and identified areas and roads that parishes and the town feel are an issue. We then took it all back to our highways colleagues to try and do something with it.

“We are not here today to have a moan, this is not a formal consultation, it is just a way of getting more information and having a conversation with each other to establish what is best for the area.”

At the meeting two tables were set up in the Memorial Hall displaying maps of Holsworthy and the surrounding parishes in the Holsworthy rural ward. The maps were a culmination of the intelligence captured from the initial June meeting where problem areas were identified and categorised.

A table showing the ‘Devon County Council Carriageway Maintenance Hierarchy’ was displayed on each table so parishioners and representatives could discuss current road classifications by referring to a colour-coded key to help aid them in decisions over ‘what is a priority’ and whether any changes to classifications needed to be made.

Giving those present a bit of background and summarising the problems county council have had when it comes to road maintenance so far and why they need to collect local intelligence to prioritise roads, David Whitton, head of highways, capital development and waste at Devon County Council, said: “We are increasingly prioritising the main roads for Devon. That is why we categorise, to prioritise what needs doing.

“There is a footfall in the amount of money we receive compared to the amount we need to carry out maintenance on Devon’s road networks. We spread the money as far as is possible in order to maintain our roads but that is all we are able to do — maintain.

“We will always fix safety defects but we only have about 50 or 60 per cent of the money we need to maintain the network as it is.”

Previously, 22 concerns regarding road conditions and current classifications of particular road networks had been raised — these were all up for further discussion by those present on Wednesday.

Some of the problems discussed included the road from Standbury Cross to Blagdon Moor being ‘increasingly dangerous’, how to overcome local habits so the Stibb Cross to Black Torrington road wasn’t used as a ‘rat run’ and how although the road from Holsworthy to Sutcombe is ‘relatively well maintained’, the road leading on from Sutcome to Bradworthy is not.

The full list of issues raised at the initial meeting was presented alongside the map to provide the parish and town representatives with an opportunity to see exactly what information Devon County Council have at their disposal.

Mr Haggerty asked those around the table: “The map is a culmination of the feedback we received last time but now we need to discuss two questions: how do we validate this information and how can we create a better understanding of local issues?”

Ken Hamlyn, chairman and representative of the St Giles on the Heath parish council, said: “You are asking for a consensus — the problem with that is what may be a major problem for maybe four people in a small hamlet won’t be seen as a big issue to say one brought up by 400 people. We need to try and find the balance.”

Discussions led the group towards how they could engage with their local communities to ensure everyone spoke up about the issues with local roads.

One parish council representative explained that it ‘is hard to get people motivated’ but they need to be able to get more local input in order to improve the categorisations of roads to establish a hierarchy of what is repaired first.

Holsworthy town councillor, Colin Punter, asked: “Say we decide categories, what does that mean? What is a priority for this gentleman and his parish will not be a priority for me. Whose problem is more important?”

Mr Haggerty explained that these were exactly the sorts of questions they were looking to answer at these meetings. The highways team wants to work further with the town and parish council representatives after these meetings to combine their technical and local intelligence to collate the data and find ways to effectively manage the local network.

As a result of the meeting, guidance about road categories and a link to the map of the Holsworthy road network has been sent to the town and parish councils in the area.

Local councillors have been asked to share these documents with their respective communities so they can consider putting forward a community view on any individual local roads to hopefully establish a full plan for the future of Holsworthy and the surrounding parishes road network.

As yet, no date has been arranged for the next meeting of ‘A Different Conversation’ since officers need to pull together thoughts from Wednesday, November 16, before any plans can go forward.