- Roads funding is set with a national formula which currently pays per mile of road. This is madness because one length of road in a rural part of Yorkshire will be very different to the same length of road in Surrey. It should be done with some recognition of the use of that road - how many vehicles are using it? it is 2000 in Yorkshire and 2m in Surrey then that should be accounted for in the amount of funding sent to that area. Surrey has some of the most used roads in the country and we are also one of the biggest contributors to the Treasury because we have people running businesses and going to work paying their taxes and they all need our roads to do this. So simply we need a fairer funding formula which benefits Surrey.
- The Government has recently increased funding to Surrey of £82,436,000 over the next eleven years in Surrey and a total of £8.3 billion, to resurface over 5,000 miles of roads across the country. Across Surrey, local highway authorities will receive £2,632,000 this financial year, followed by a further £ 2,632,000 for 2024-25, as part of a long-term funding plan through to 2034. We will see improvements in our roads as a result as SCC have upped their pothole and resurfacing work but we need more of this.
- Utility companies are having an impact on our roads - they are legally allowed to dig up our roads on an 'emergency' basis but this happens all too frequently. When the roads are dug up, relaid, dug up and so on they get weaker and we have ore problems with dips and potholes forming. Also it causes chaos on our roads and often conflicts with other well planned road works in the area. Also leaks under the road from water pipes weaken the integrity of the surface causing potholes too. We need stronger rules on how the highways authority (the county council) works with utility companies. The use of 'emergency' needs to be revised and we need to ensure that it is truly a proper emergency when they dig up the road. We also need to make it mandatory that utility companies work together - if one needs to dig up the road they should collaborate with all of the others so the works are done at there same time and the road is only dug up once.
- I have been a strong voice on implementing transport options which basically means I am not against people using their cars but I think if we offer feasible alternatives people will use them. The Government has committed an unprecedented £2 billion of funding for active travel over 5 years and we have been utilising this at Surrey County Council to work on local cycling and walking plans, and the £1 bus fare for young people. We have also invested in electric buses and I was a member of the Surrey cabinet behind the Surrey On Demand Bus which started in Mole Valley and transport 20,000 passengers around there to reach GP surgeries, attend hospital appointments, access further education and training or go shopping.
- We have to be realistic and offer proper alternative modes of transport to really provide choice.
- I have a strong track record in getting road investment - I was the county councillor covering the Egham area who helped get the £25 million for the re-design of the Runnymede roundabout that completely changed the way traffic moved coming off the M25 and cleared the congestion. I have had miles of roads re-surfaced during my time as a councillor and I have been behind the Local Walking & Cycling Infrastructure Plans.
