South Glos to get around £400k "pothole money" from government

South Gloucestershire Council is expecting to receive around £400,000 to help repair winter damaged roads from the Government. The Department for Transport has announced a £100million pot of cash for English councils to help repair potholes formed during the recent freezing weather. The money will be distributed on a needs basis and South Gloucestershire is likely to receive around £400,000 based on the same formula as last year when a similar scheme was rolled out.

The DfT cash will be used to pay for priority schemes which range from pothole repairs to patching and complete resurfacing projects. The council has already put extra resources to combat potholes this year with two additional teams to complement the existing three teams working across the district. These teams have already filled around 2500 potholes since the start of 2011.

On average, South Gloucestershire spends around £500,000 per year on repairing potholes and £200,000 on patching. In recent years, the council has invested an additional £2 million into road surfacing to deal with previously declining road conditions, and this has paid off by reducing the impact of the severe winter weather.

The new money will be prioritised to deal with areas where work is needed as a matter of urgency.