Council to consider spending an extra £1 million capital on roads

A paper going to the Council meeting on 9 March will propose a £1 million spend of additional capital monies on roads infrastructure.

The Scottish Government, announced on 2 February 2017, an additional Capital Grant for Highland Council of £2.046 million for 2017/18 and a paper to council will ask members to consider whether to allocate £1 million of this to roads.

The 2017 Strategic Timber Transport Fund (STTF), managed by Forestry Commission Scotland, is to offer £7.85 million nationally of co-funding support to projects that strengthen public roads and reduce disruption by timber haulage. Highland Council is well placed to attract this match funding and would make every effort to secure this potential additional investment.

The Council approved an additional £24.520 million in December 2015 for roads, bridges and piers to be included in the Capital Plan, together with an additional provision of £1.6 million for minor flood works over 10 years.

Budget Leader Councillor Bill Fernie said: “We have already committed a significant amount of capital investment into our road infrastructure over the next few years and this is an opportunity to add to that investment and attract additional match funding.”

Councillor Allan Henderson, Chair of Community Services Committee added: “We have nearly 7,000 km of roads in the Highlands and this network is vital to our rural communities and lifeline services. Every penny invested in maintaining this critical network also helps to support our tourism and business economy as well as improve connectivity for everyone in the Highlands.”

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