After a national campaign, B&NES Council has been given a grant from Central Government to spend on filling potholes locally.

The £8.4 million grant will be allocated to councils across the region, with B&NES set to spend £176,000 on filling holes in the authority.

However, the Liberal Democrats in B&NES are questioning how far a government grant to fix potholes will stretch, given the high costs of road repairs and the number of local roads waiting for resurfacing.

Councillor Neil Butters (Bathavon South), Lib-Dem Transport spokesperson, said: “Additional funding for road repairs is welcome; however this sum will barely scratch the surface of what is needed. Residents will want to know where this money will be spent, which communities will benefit and why B&NES has received the lowest award of all of the South West Councils.

“The previous Lib-Dem administration allocated an extra £2.2 million of local money for highways, over and above the government grant, to help address the backlog in repairs. The Conservatives have slashed this maintenance fund by £1.7 million and the government annual grant itself has been reduced by £126,000 compared to last year. The extra £176,000 from the government won’t go far to make up the shortfall.”

“The high costs of road schemes are also a cause for concern. As an example, in Bathavon South, local residents have been waiting for resurfacing of the Peasedown to Wellow road, which goes past Shoscombe. The scheme costs have doubled to £170,000 and this will cover just a small section, rather than the original plan which would have repaired the whole road.”

Combe Down’s Lib Dem Councillor, Cherry Beath, added: “On the national scale, the Local Government Association has warned that the £50 million the government has allocated for the pothole fund is about £11.75 billion less than councils need to do the job properly. The condition of our roads is only going to get worse unless the government addresses it as a national priority.”

A spokesperson for B&NES Council said this week: “With this additional funding from Government, the Council will be spending over £4.3 million on road repairs and highway maintenance this year. This is well above the basic grant provided by Government, and includes an additional half a million pounds allocated from the Council’s own funds to help tackle potholes and improve our area’s road surfaces.

“The Council welcomes the extra £176,000 announced by the Government towards addressing road maintenance across B&NES, which will be used towards funding repairs as well as proactive resurfacing to prevent potholes forming.”