Home   News   Article

Election 2021: Conservatives promise a £200 million pothole fund for local authorities to patch up their roads amid claims by Inverness and Nairn candidate Edward Mountain that local authorities were 'short-changed' by the SNP


By Scott Maclennan

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!
Conservative candidate for the Inverness and Nairn seat Edward Mountain.
Conservative candidate for the Inverness and Nairn seat Edward Mountain.

A proposed £200 million fund that could go some of the way to fixing Highland potholes has been warmly welcomed by Scottish Conservative candidate Edward Mountain.

The Scottish Conservatives have pledged to invest £200 million in a Road Maintenance Fund to repair potholes, councils can bid into it for funding.

Mr Mountain who is standing for the Inverness and Nairn seat expects this will be a massive boost to Highland Council’s attempts to maintain around 4000 miles of local roads, the largest road network in the UK.

The party has also pledged to upgrade the A82 between Glasgow and Inverness and continue the dualling of the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness and the A9 between Perth and Inverness.

Mr Mountain said: “Repairing our local roads and upgrading our trunk roads is a key issue in this election.

“The Highland Council has been short changed by the SNP Scottish government for years, meaning our roads have more potholes than ever before.

“Over the last five years I have pressed the SNP on this issue but they have always rejected my calls for extra support to be made available.

“Whether it’s providing additional funding to repair sections of the North Coast 500 or finding a permanent solution to the disruption along Stromeferry, the SNP are not interested.

“Only the Scottish Conservatives are serious about road maintenance. That’s why I am pleased we are looking to establish a £200 million fund to help local authorities fix our roads. This fund is desperately needed.

“We also need to upgrade our trunk roads to create closer transport links between the Highlands and the rest of the UK too.

“Only a vote for the Scottish Conservatives would ensure upgrades to the A9, A96 and A82 are put back on schedule.”

Click here for more of our election coverage.


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More