THE appalling condition of the roads and pavements in East Renfrewshire is a key issue with residents, yet very little is being done about it, despite the Audit Scotland Maintaining Scotland’s Roads follow-up report in 2016, which cautioned: "Urgent action is needed if the condition of Scotland's roads is to improve. Proper maintenance of the roads network is vital for economic prosperity and for people to get around safely."
In truth, many of our roads can justifiably be likened – and have been of late in your Letters Pages – as "third world". Austerity cannot be used as a defence for the action – or more appropriately inaction – by East Renfrewshire Council (ERC) for failing in its obligation to provide roads that are safe and fit for purpose.
ERC is classed with being in the group of Scottish local authorities that spends less than is necessary to maintain current road conditions, according to the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland).
Within the last year, Broom, Kirkhill and Mearnskirk Community Council has vigorously petitioned ERC – Scotland’s richest local authority – to address the problem. This it has stubbornly refused to do, despite having been presented with solutions by the community council and the opposition within ERC.
It costs £40 per square metre to properly repair roads. According to Andrew Cahill, ERC’s director of environment, the estimated cost of bringing all roads in East Renfrewshire up to standard is £26.5million, which means nearly 700,000 square metres are sub-standard.
The last published figures (as of March 31, 2017) show the reserves to include three funds, headed Repairs & Renewals, Capital, and General, with a combined total of £50.5m. These (or a mix of reserves and borrowing) could be used to properly repair all of ERC's roads.
Reserves are there to be used in a time of crisis. As our roads are certainly in a critical condition, this cost should be viewed as an investment in roads, which form the council’s largest physical asset. For the financial year 2017/18, just over one per cent of ERC’s total budget was allocated to road maintenance. Audit Scotland has also urged ERC to use part of its reserves, yet unbelievably, ERC’s response was to propose a 10 per cent cut in the road’s budget over the next three years, starting with a cut of £400,000 in the current fiscal year. Thankfully, this proposal has now been dropped for the current fiscal year.
Your will be aware from recent letters and articles in your newspaper and in the local press, of the growing outrage of East Renfrewshire’s residents at the state of the roads. Despite this, ERC is contemplating rebuilding Eastwood Leisure Centre to incorporate a 50-metre swimming pool at a cost of £25-30m. Residents should be aware of these facts and campaign to make ERC fulfil its duty as regards roads and pavements before their state of disrepair causes a serious accident.
Gordon Muirhead,
26 Culzean Crescent, Newton Mearns.
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