REPORT TO PICKMERE PARISH COUNCIL
20th July 2021
AGENDA ITEM 9.10 CEC PROPOSED TOP-UP ROAD MAINTENANCE SCHEME
1. REPORT
1.1 CEC is changing the organisation of securing highway repairs and improvements. Rather than
all complaints about highway defects simply being considered by officers in relation to CEC
policy and financial thresholds, and subsequently included in CEC’s work programmes, it is
understood that while significant schemes of improvement and maintenance (schemes over
£10,000), will be dealt with in a similar way the method for dealing with small scale highway
improvement or maintenance requests that come forward via local residents or for instance
parish councils will be substantially changed.
1.2 The first element of the new system is that each CEC Ward Councillor, Cllr Parkinson in the case
of High Legh Ward, which includes Pickmere, will have a small annual budget which the
Councillor manages. That annual budget is understood to be approximately £4000. Such a
budget, spread over the several parishes that make up High Legh, is truly minimal and will not
in any way cover the kinds of request for gully-emptying, or highway repairs that even Pickmere
on its own might generate.
1.3 To supplement that system, CEC is piloting the so-called Top-up Road Maintenance scheme.
Essentially if the Parish Council seeks some form of road repair, or emptying of gullies etc., over
and above whatever CEC might include in its normal budget, then the Parish Council would have
to submit an application to CEC for such work and to agree to fund the work concerned; the
project would then be assessed by CEC, and if the parish agrees to fund such work then the
work would normally proceed. The kinds of cost involved in the many potential projects
covered by this system include for instance:
Gully emptying c£8-£12 per gully
Streetlight testing and inspection of columns and lights c£25 per unit
Street lighting replacement of lanterns with LEDS c£450 per unit
Carriageway patching c£80-£120 per m2
Unlit signs e.g. street name plates, information, and warning signs c£500-£2000
Parking, loading, weight restrictions (Traffic Regulation Orders) c£5000-£10,000
Bus shelter replacement c£12,000
Residents’ parking Schemes – feasibility and consultation c£2,500-£5000+
2. RECOMMENDATION
2.1 That members note the report and comment accordingly.
J Steel
Clerk to the Parish Council