Warning that Falkirk roads will see 'managed decline' if spending not increased

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Falkirk councillors have been warned spending on roads at current levels will see 'a managed decline' of the district's network.

This financial year, Falkirk Council 's capital budget allocated £3.5 million for road repairs. But the council's director of Place Services, Malcolm Binnie, told members of Falkirk Council's executive today (Tuesday) this was not even enough to "just maintain what we've got". Read more: Crackdown on pavement parking in Falkirk is set to start this year The need for investment in roads was highlighted in December in a report to the Scrutiny Committee.But the latest warning came as members were given an update on capital spending in Falkirk this year.Mr Bennie told councillors money could be invested in the road network by using some of the cash from 'service concessions' - changes to repayments for the council's privately financed high schools, which are approaching the end of their contracts.He warned councillors they could either use this money to invest in things such as roads or they could use it to bridge the massive gap between spending and income.He said: "As the Scrutiny report highlighted last year, there has been a modest improvement in Falkirk roads in recent years, directly as the result of significant additional investment by the council in its roads."This year, he said, investment has "dropped back to its original level"."An investment of £3.6 million is approximately £4 million short of what we need to maintain roads at the existing standard."We are now in a position of what we would call 'managed decline'."He added: "That's why it's so important for elected members to consider carefully the use of the service concessions because that funding could be used to improve our