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Vehicle damaged after hitting pothole – while being driven by Highland roads inspector


By Scott Maclennan

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A vehicle had to be recovered after hitting a pothole on a far north road – while being driven by a Highland roads inspector.

The Highland Council officer was apparently on his way to check a section of road when he hit the pothole, requiring the vehicle to be taken away on the back of a truck.

Thurso and Northwest councillor Mathew Reiss said the incident typifies just how bad the roads have become in the county and he fears motorists risk injury due to the crumbling surfaces.

Highland Council has allocated £20 million for road repairs for the next two years – for the entire council area – which campaigners say is grossly insufficient.

It is estimated that around £200 million is required to bring roads across the whole of the region up to standard.

Thurso and Northwest Caithness councillor Matthew Reiss.
Thurso and Northwest Caithness councillor Matthew Reiss.

One possible area for the council to get more funding for roads is through the developments and enterprises whose heavy goods traffic do most of the damage, such as wind farms and logging companies.

“There are three practical points here,” Councillor Reiss said. “Nothing illustrates the problem the council faces than the local roads inspector who went to inspect a particularly damaged piece of road in Westerdale in Caithness and his own council vehicle hit a pothole.

“It ended up having to be recovered on the back of a truck because of the damage it sustained on a public road, albeit a minor public road – but there are still people who live there.

“This particular road where the council vehicle came to grief is heavily used by timber lorries and the government could change the rules so a serious amount of money was available to repair these roads.

“That also leads on to the renewable companies who are covering large parts of Caithness with wind turbines and tracks, all of which require a large number of heavy goods vehicles to move along the roads.

“Most of the roads – as everyone knows – were never designed to be used by heavy goods vehicles."

Cllr Reiss also said there has been other accidents caused by the deteriorating state of the roads.

“Another practical illustration is that this week there have been accidents on the A99 near Reiss and one of them was a McLaren sports car, the other a more conventional car," he said.

“But these accidents show we are not far off having vehicles leave the road because of the damage they are sustaining, and if you leave the road it is a lottery if you come to rest with just your vehicle damaged or actually whether people get injured.

“And that is how serious, I fear, this problem is becoming.”

Councillors were yesterday discussing a motion brought by Council leader Margaret Davidson and Cllr Jimmy Gray calling for: “A fairer share of the income derived for the development of the Highlands' natural resources.”

The motion is intended to determine the next steps for the council to set up a programme to retain some of the revenue from renewable energy through a Highland Renewable Fund.

Cllr Davidson said: "This is about retaining more of the money that's made from our natural resources here in Highland.

"I hope today is the first time we start talking about a Highland renewable fund, not just a Shetland oil fund, not a Norway oil fund – a Highland renewable fund, because I am very aware of the money that whizzes past my head every time yet another wind farm is built."

The motions states: “At a time when massive profits are being made by private energy companies who use the abundant natural resources of wind and water in the Highlands, the basic road infrastructure that the communities of the Highlands rely upon is failing due to the lack of investment over a number of years.

“Asking for a share to invest back in the community for the overall benefit of the people of the Highlands is reasonable beyond challenge and the norm in many other countries across Europe.”


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