Budget of a thousand cuts, Tory KCC's plans for Ashford's Highways

1.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 12th Jul 2006

"This is an absolute disgrace" Koowaree

Residents of East Kent who may have been hoping that their broken pavements and pot-holed roads might finally be fixed this year face further disappointment thanks to massive cuts in spending on roads and pavements in East Kent by the Conservative administration at County Hall.

"Even we could not have anticipated the level of cuts in this budget" said Ashford Liberal Democrat leader Rita Hawes. "Requests for even the most urgent repairs have fallen on deaf ears recently and now we know why. Our roads and pavements are going to rack and ruin!"

The most staggering cut is the figure for repairs to pavements and cycleways which has fallen from nearly one and a half million last year to just £133,000 this year - and that amount has to cover the whole of East Kent.

"This is an absolute disgrace" said County Councillor George Koowaree. "The estimated cost of repairing all the roads and pavements to the minimum acceptable standard is believed to be about £50,000,000. Now that the Tories at KCC have slashed the budget for East Kent things are going to get even worse for local people!"

Key Budget Figures

KCC street repairs budget for East Kent slashed by over £8 Million for this year.

Footways repair Budget down by over 90%.

Street lighting repairs halved.

Drainage works down by almost three quarters.

92% cut in safety-fencing repair works.