Kingston roads to get much needed pothole repair cash (From Kingston Guardian)

Kingston roads to get much needed pothole repair cash

6:40am Sunday 7th March 2010

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Three roads seriously damaged in the winter freeze will get urgent repairs, after Kingston Council switched £400,000 from a fund to pay out compensation claims to fix broken highways instead.

Liberal Democrats said the move will allow roads to be fixed quickly, reducing the number of cars damaged and the amount of the money drivers could reclaim from the council in compensation.

Council officers said the total bill to repair the winter damage could reach £1m, and said Glenbuck Road in Surbiton and Nelson Road and Presburg Road, both in New Malden, would receive £140,000 for immediate repairs, to ensure they remain safe for public use.

The insurance fund, estimated at £989,000 in April 2010, is used to pay out claims for losses the council does not have insurance for.

At last week’s budget meeting, council leader Councillor Derek Osbourne said: “We are covering the costs of the damage done to the roads by the winter cold snap by taking £400,000 from the insurance fund which would normally be used to pay compensation to people who have accidents from this sorts of damage. It seems entirely reasonable to use that money in a preventative rather than post-hoc way.”

In 2008-09 the council removed £70,000 from the highway repairs budget “to reflect recent experience of milder winters”.

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