Essex council pledges £12m more for road maintenance

Essex County Council said an extra £12m added to its road maintenance budget would fund extra work crews

An additional £12m has been pledged to tackle road maintenance across Essex.

The Conservative-led county council agreed the figure at a full meeting, saying £8m of that would fund extra crews to prioritise issues raised by local councillors.

The council had already budgeted £99m to tackle roads, potholes and pavements, but has now added more.

It also confirmed council tax would increase by almost 5% - an extra £72 a year for the average Band D household.

The measures were presented at Tuesday's Full Council Meeting.

Tom Cunningham, cabinet member for highways, said: "I know how much pride Essex residents take in where they live, so I'm pleased to announce this additional investment for our highways.

"Not only will the funding mean we can carry out more priority repairs and maintenance work, but it will also allow us to bring forward some of our surfacing and patching schemes."

He added that "nearly double the number of potholes were repaired across Essex last year compared to the previous year".

More than £350,000 has also been agreed to fund work over the summer months to repair damage to rural roads caused by the flooding and winter conditions.

The council said the increase in council tax would "help bridge the gap seen nationally in children's services, adult social care and Home to School Transport, with rising costs, demand and complexity creating £80m worth of pressures for Essex in 2024/25".

The 4.99% increase consists of a council tax rise to 2.99% in addition to a 2% adult social care precept.

"Increased council tax will see £16m invested into supporting older people and adults with disabilities, while £14m will go towards protecting the most vulnerable children in the county," the council said.