Minutes:
It was moved by Councillor Liam Bones and seconded by Councillor Bartoli that:
Roads and pavements are at the top of our residents priorities, and are one of the most basic things that a Council provides for its residents - yet the 2023 Highway Asset Management Plan Annual Information Report shows our roads and pavements are worse than ever.
Council notes that:
· The report states that “The authorities additional £2m investment has made a significant contribution to maintaining the Network. However, the number of yellow and amber roads has increased considerably. This indicates that consideration should now be given to additional investment in the network in order to avoid further decline”.
· In just the last year the percentage of roads deemed to be ‘good’ has plummeted from 37% to just 16%.
· Just 3% of our pavements are deemed to be a ‘good’ standard.
· The Government has provided over £3.3million directly to North Tyneside for pothole repairs and over £14million to the combined authority, including an additional £500,000 just last month.
· The Mayor’s 2024/25 budget does not include any additional funding as requested in the Highway Asset Management Plan Annual Information Report
Council believes:
· The condition of our roads and pavements is now worse than ever.
· The Mayor must take urgent action to prevent this situation escalating further.
Council asks the Mayor to:
· Bring forward an urgent plan to make progress on the roads and pavements backlog and start the vital work to bring our roads and pavements up to scratch.
An amendment was moved by Councillor C Johnson and seconded by Councillor D Drummond as follows:
In the introductory paragraph, after residents, remove ‘yet the 2023 Highway Asset Management Plan Annual Information Report shows our roads and pavements are worse than ever.’
In the first bullet point’s second sentence, after yellow, to insert ‘(Early life)’ and after amber, to insert ‘(Mid Life)’.
At the end of the first sentence in the second bullet point, add the sentence ‘With 22% of our roads considered ‘early life’ and 53% ‘mid life’ with only 9% of our roads being considered ‘late life’.’
In the third bullet point, after standard, insert ‘ when the last pavement survey was carried out in 2020, the Mayor and Labour Group have provided significant investment into pavements since then.’.
In the fourth bullet point, after and, remove ‘over £14million to the combined authority’.
At the end of the fourth bullet point, add ‘The cumulative amount the Conservative Government have cut from highways funding since 2010 could completely cover the entire roads and pavements backlog in North Tyneside.’
In the fifth bullet point, after budget, remove ‘does not include any additional funding’ and replace with ‘includes an additional £2 million investment as proposed by the Mayor and Labour Group’.
In the sixth bullet point, after is, insert ‘as seen in the HAMP in a significantly better condition than it was under the previous Conservative administration.’, and remove ‘worse than ever’.
In the eighth bullet point, after Mayor, insert ‘is already taking’, and remove ‘must take’ from that paragraph.
After the eighth bullet point, insert the following two bullet points ‘North Tyneside Council has the lowest maintenance backlog in the LA7 significantly lower than Conservative ran Northumberland.’ and ‘The Government recently provided £200 million to London for potholes from funding that was supposed to be distributed in the North after the cancelling of HS2.’
At the end of the proposed amendment insert this final paragraph, ‘Write to the Secretary of State and ask him to provide North Tyneside with additional funding for roads and pavements in line with the funding it has cut over the years.’
The amended motion therefore read:
Roads and pavements are at the top of our residents priorities, and are one of the most basic things that a Council provides for its residents.
Council notes that:
· The report states that “The authorities additional £2m investment has made a significant contribution to maintaining the Network. However, the number of yellow (Early life) and amber (Mid Life) roads has increased considerably. This indicates that consideration should now be given to additional investment in the network in order to avoid further decline”.
· In just the last year the percentage of roads deemed to be ‘good’ has plummeted from 37% to just 16%. With 22% of our roads considered ‘early life’ and 53% ‘mid life’ with only 9% of our roads being considered ‘late life’.
· Just 3% of our pavements were deemed to be a ‘good’ standard when the last pavement survey was carried out in 2020, the Mayor and Labour Group have provided significant investment into pavements since then.
· The Government has provided over £3.3million directly to North Tyneside for pothole repairs and over £14million to the combined authority, including an additional £500,000 just last month. The cumulative amount the Conservative Government have cut from highways funding since 2010 could completely cover the entire roads and pavements backlog in North Tyneside.
· The Mayor’s 2024/25 budget does not include any additional funding includes an additional £2 million investment as proposed by the Mayor and Labour Group as requested in the Highway Asset Management Plan Annual Information Report
Council believes:
· The condition of our roads and pavements is as seen in the HAMP in a significantly better condition than it was under the previous Conservative administration. worse than ever.
· The Mayor is already taking must take urgent action to prevent this situation escalating further.
· North Tyneside Council has the lowest maintenance backlog in the LA7 significantly lower than Conservative ran Northumberland.
· The Government recently provided £200 million to London for potholes from funding that was supposed to be distributed in the North after the cancelling of HS2.
Council asks the Mayor to:
· Bring forward an urgent plan to make progress on the roads and pavements backlog and start the vital work to bring our roads and pavements up to scratch.
· Write to the Secretary of State and ask him to provide North Tyneside with additional funding for roads and pavements in line with the funding it has cut over the years.
A named vote on the amendment was requested by two members present:
Votes for the amendment:
Councillors G Bell, L Bell, S Burtenshaw, K Clark, D Cox, S Cox, N Craven, J Cruddas, E Darke, C Davis, D Drummond, P Earley, S Graham, I Grayson, M Hall, J Harrison, A Holdsworth, Janet Hunter, V Jamieson, C Johnson, H Johnson, J Kirwan, F Lott, W Lott, L Marshall, A McMullen, J Mudzingwa, T Mulvenna, M Murphy, T Neira, A Newman, P Oliver, R O’Keefe, J O'Shea, S Phillips, E Parker-Leonard, B Pickard, N Redfearn, W Samuel, J Shaw, A Spowart, M Thirlaway, J Walker, M Wilson.
Votes against the amendment:
L Bartoli, L Bones, J Johnsson, C Johnston, I McAlpine, P McIntyre, O Scargill, J Wallace.
The amendment was approved by 44 votes to 8.
A named vote on the amended substantive motion was requested by two members present.
Votes for the motion:
Councillors G Bell, L Bell, S Burtenshaw, K Clark, D Cox, S Cox, N Craven, J Cruddas, E Darke, C Davis, D Drummond, P Earley, S Graham, I Grayson, M Hall, J Harrison, A Holdsworth, Janet Hunter, V Jamieson, C Johnson, H Johnson, J Kirwan, F Lott, W Lott, L Marshall, A McMullen, J Mudzingwa, T Mulvenna, M Murphy, T Neira, A Newman, P Oliver, R O’Keefe, J O'Shea, S Phillips, E Parker-Leonard, B Pickard, N Redfearn, W Samuel, J Shaw, A Spowart, M Thirlaway, J Walker, M Wilson.
Votes against the motion:
L Bartoli, L Bones, J Johnsson, C Johnston, I McAlpine, P McIntyre, O Scargill, J Wallace.
The substantive motion, on being put the meeting, was approved by 44 votes to 8 votes.