THE condition of rural roads in and around the Holsworthy area has been a hot topic amongst residents and one that councillors have tried to find a solution to.

It has recently been announced that a fund will be made available to ensure that repairs to rural roads can be made under the new ‘Pothole Action Fund’.

Previously, systems have been put in place to help residents make their own temporary repairs to potholes in their area, but many will be pleased to hear that steps are being taken by the Department of Transport to help repair potholes.

The RAC commissioned David Bayliss at the end of 2015 to produce a paper entitled ‘The Condition of England’s Local Roads and how they are Funded’, in which he said: “Local highways authority maintenance spending reduced by 15% between 2009/10 and 2013/14.

“A further 35% reduction in local highways maintenance budgets is estimated by the end of the decade.”

The funding in the future for roads maintained by local authorities like Devon County Council has not been defined.

According to Mr Bayliss, local authority roads in England: “Comprise over 97% of the road network length; Carry 2/3 of motor traffic and almost all of cycle and pedestrian traffic; Provide access to over 25 million properties.”

Holsworthy Rural’s County Councillor Barry Parsons (Cons) said: “I would scrap the idea of spending tens of billions of pounds on a super-fast railway (pointedly, HS2); instead, focus on the much fairer, and, in my view ‘humane’ option of ensuring a road network ‘fit for purpose’ for all of us in this country; one which, for example, enables everyone to travel safely, get to medical appointments, do the shopping, go to work with reliability, and also get our children to school.”

This issue was raised at Holsworthy Town Council’s meeting on Wednesday, June 1, where Cllr Parsons informed those present that a new ‘Pothole Action Fund’ was announced by the Department of Transport in April 2016. This fund will see Devon benefit from a pot of £1,952,000.

Holsworthy will benefit from £99,979 in funding to help improve local road surfaces, which will then deliver a better journey for residents.

Cllr Parsons said: “Holsworthy, a single member ward out of 62 across the county, has been allocated more funding than any other in the county at £99,979. Torridge as a whole has faired well, and, rightly so. Rest assured there has been a great deal of work done to achieve this result.

“Whilst we may not in this area have significant numbers of individuals we do have significant issues arising from being so rural with so many miles of road.”

In the past there have been strict guidelines as to when a pothole can be repaired. The Devon County Council website says: ‘We will only carry out a repair on a pothole which is over 40mm deep and greater than 300mm in any horizontal direction.’

The roads systems in the Holsworthy area have been in need for repair for some time, and now many residents will be pleased with the news that steps are being taken to rectify these faults.

Resident of Holsworthy, Christine Williams told the Post: “With signs warning motorists of loose chippings currently much in evidence in Holsworthy and the surrounding area local residents will no doubt be pleased that at last something is being done to repair the roads.

“Nevertheless, much still has to be done and many are puzzled as to why some roads which were in a reasonable condition have been prioritised over others which are in desperate need of repair.

“Especially puzzling is why the road leading into Well Park car park, was left untouched when the rest of the car park was resurfaced last August.”

There will be a meeting in the Memorial Hall in Holsworthy on Thursday, June 16, from 6pm to 8pm, set up by Cllr Parsons, regarding the local road networks.

Cllr Parsons is urging representatives from the Holsworthy Rural wards and parishes to come along to the meeting, which is designed to address matters relating to the local highways networks. This meeting will not be the same as those traditionally held ‘Highways Meetings’, but will be an open conversation with the local communities about their own roads.

Officers from Devon County Council and outside of the Highways Service will take the lead.