Foord calls for Devon Council Leader to ‘get tough’ on Govt over potholes

Liberal Democrat candidate Richard Foord has written to Cllr James McInnes, the new Leader of Devon County Council, urging him to focus on fixing Devon’s ‘pock-marked’ roads and get tough on the Government in Westminster over funding cuts.

In his letter to Cllr McInnes, Mr Foord highlighted that the total cost of clearing the backlog of road repairs in Devon has spiralled to almost £200million – far outstripping the recent additional funding announced for pothole repairs.

He went on to say that the lack of serious action on potholes shows that Conservative Ministers in London are not taking the issue seriously and urged the incoming leader to take a tougher stance and put extra pressure on the Government to act.

Richard Foord repeatedly raised the dangers and damage caused by potholes. He spoke about the issue in Parliament, criticising the extra pothole funding announced as insufficient and pressing Ministers to do more to fix Devon’s crumbling roads.

Richard Foord, Liberal Democrat candidate for Honiton & Sidmouth said:

“Anyone who drives round our local roads knows just how bad they have become in recent years. I am sure you can find fewer craters on parts of the moon than won’t hold a candle to the state of some of our rural roads.

“The truth of the matter is that this Conservative Government has repeatedly slashed the funding for local councils, something voted through by Conservative West Country MPs. This has left Devon unable to keep up with road maintenance, leading to a £200million backlog of repair work.

“Ministers have then announced small token sums of money, which go nowhere close to addressing the scale of issue and expect us all to be grateful. This is frankly insulting and shows that the Conservatives are continuing to take towns and villages across Devon for granted.

“Cllr McInnes has recognised that road maintenance is a growing concern, now he must force the issue and demand change from Westminster. We cannot begin to properly fix our roads till we see Devon get a fair funding deal, which reflects our expansive rural road network.

“I hope he will agree to join me in demanding better for people right across our county.”