Kent road conditions worsening due to funding cuts, council says

Kent County Council only has half the money it needs to maintain the roads in their current state

Kent's roads are "in a managed state of decline", according to the councillor in charge of the county's highways.

David Brazier said there would be fewer repairs in the future, because of reductions in government funding and rises in maintenance costs.

In a letter, Mr Brazier said Kent County Council (KCC) could not afford to maintain roads in their current condition.

The government said KCC had received £40m for road improvements in 2023/24.

Mr Brazier told BBC Radio Kent the council only had half the money it needed to maintain the roads in their current state.

"Our highways can thus be said to be in a state of managed decline," he said.

"We are doing our best. We have a legal duty to maintain our highways."

Roads 'pretty dreadful'

Mr Brazier said: "At the moment we can do less with the money that we have. Government usually provides extra funding after a severe winter, and indeed we had a severe winter.

"That has not been forthcoming."

He sad: "It means that some of the less used roads - the minor roads in the countryside - will not get the attention they should have, because obviously we have to prioritise the strategic network."

As a keen cyclist, Mr Brazier described the state of some of the roads as "pretty dreadful".

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "It's the responsibility of local authorities to maintain their local highway networks, and to help them do that we're investing more than £5bn from 2020 to 2025, with Kent receiving over £40m in 2023/24 alone.

"We've also brought in new rules to clamp down on utility companies leaving potholes behind after carrying out street works."

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