New Nottinghamshire County Council cross-party highways panel is getting straight down to business

Led by committee chairman, Coun Neil Clarke MBE, committee members will discuss road maintenance at their first meeting on June 15.

Coun Clarke said: “As a new committee we are fully committed to listening and taking action on probably the biggest area of concern for our residents.

“Following a unanimous vote at full council last month, we intend to hit the ground running by establishing this new cross-party review panel.

"It will take a structured approach to reviewing Nottinghamshire’s highways, examining what road repairs we make, where we make them, and how we deliver them.

"We will look at what already works and where we could improve, because we want to get the best possible value for every pound of public money we spend on our roads.”

“I will ensure that the expertise of other local authorities and industry leaders is brought on board and that the questions that need to be asked from all of those involved are answered.”

The panel will work together with external organisations and professionals to examine a range of methods and technologies that are used to repair and maintain the county’s roads and suggest recommendations for improvement.

Coun Clarke added: “There is a huge, historic backlog of road repairs to tackle, so we need to get this right.

"We have already invested an extra £24 million over the past three years but there is much further still to go.

"We want the proposed cross-party panel to ensure we make the best use of the next round of investment and get us to where we need to be.

“This review will mean we can see if there are better ways to do things to deliver sustainable repairs using the best practice and best innovations out there.

“It needs to be a cross party approach because we need that spirit of cooperation.

"It’s a county-wide problem, which is why we need to all work together.”