Road repairs in Assynt spark NC500 prioritisation claims
Questions are being asked over how Highland Council prioritises its road repairs in Sutherland.
Assynt Community Council has contacted the local authority asking for an explanation of how it decides which stretches of road should be repaired first.
The move comes as road workers completed resurfacing work on the B869 Drumbeg-Nedd loop road.
Some 3.5km of the B869 route has been resurfaced with £140,000 funding from the Sutherland area’s prioritised capital works programme for 2021/22.
The work on the Drumbeg-Nedd loop was discussed at last month’s meeting of Assynt Community Council.
Members felt Highland Council was prioritising road repairs on stretches of tourism route North Coast 500 rather than on roads more frequently used by local drivers.
Alex Dickson asked: “I wonder whether this is all NC500 motivated and I strongly suspect it is.”
Mr Dickson was also critical of the authority for not inviting input from local people in connection with road repairs.
It was agreed that a formal Freedom of Information request should be submitted in a bid to identify when the decision to focus on the particular section of the B869 was discussed, who authorised the repairs and what criteria were used.
The group has since posted on its social media page calling for local residents to contact them with suggestions of stretches of road requiring urgent repair, resurfacing or relining.
A Highland Council spokesman told the Northern Times: “Sutherland County Committee discussed on March 1 a prioritised list of structural maintenance works for the Sutherland area for 2021/22.
“The B869 is on the list of prioritised capital works in Sutherland.”
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