Caithness and Skye to benefit as council agrees millions for worst roads in Highland

Highland Council has deviated from its usual funding formula to target funding based on engineering assessments and local knowledge.

By Nicola Sinclair, Local Democracy Reporter

May 4 2023, 2:00 pm

Caithness and Skye will each receive £1.8 million extra roads funding. Image: Caithness Roads Recovery.

Local politics took a back seat as councillors across the Highlands agreed an extra £7.7 million roads investment.

Highland Council took a different approach to this funding, targeting the roads that are most in need of repair, predominantly Caithness and Skye.

Usually, roads funding is calculated using a complex formula that factors in population, road length, usage, condition and more.

In this year’s budget, the council agreed to spend an extra £20.5 million capital on the crumbling roads network.

Part of that funding was £7.7 million for strategic roads schemes. At today’s meeting of the economy committee, members agreed to give the lion’s share of the money to Caithness and Skye, which council engineers say have the worst roads in Highland.

Economy chairman Ken Gowans said the money “will make a huge difference to many communities”.

Highland roads to benefit from £7.7 million investment

The new approach to roads funding is based on engineering expertise and local knowledge. This has led to a big cash injection in certain areas.

The biggest winners are Skye and Caithness, who will each get £1.8 million of the £7.7 million strategic fund.

Ross and Cromarty will receive £1.3 million, and there’s £1 million for Inverness.

Highland Council will distribute the remaining cash across Badenoch and Strathspey, Sutherland, Lochaber and Nairn.

Economy chairman Ken Gowans said the administration’s budget decisions have proven correct, as his committee agreed an extra £7.7 million for roads most in need of repair. Image: Jason Hedges/ DC Thomson.

In a show of political unity, members from across geographies and political parties welcomed the investment.

However, they took the opportunity to encourage the council to consider throwing out the old funding formula. Councillors called the new approach “common sense”.

Councillor Drew Millar said he had never seen the roads network in such a bad condition, and he hoped to maintain the new approach to distributing funding.

And while Inverness councillor Trish Robertson urged caution in ensuring that the major roads in the city get some attention, she accepted the council’s approach to this fund.

Caithness member Matthew Reiss said the “gracious” support from fellow councillors was a “good day of unity” for the council.

Yet council leader Raymond Bremner delivered a sting in the tail. Mr Bremner told members the previous administration under-invested in roads.

“This should have been done years ago,” he said, adding: “I hope we can change and be more flexible in how we spend the money we get from the Scottish Government.”

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