Council will borrow £7m for repairs to highways

REDCAR and Cleveland Council says it will borrow £7.1m this financial year in order to carry out repairs to highways structures and those in coastal areas it is responsible for.

- By STUART ARNOLD Local democracy reporter [e-mail] @LDRArnold

The local authority said the external funding it was allocated was insufficient to maintain all the assets it was responsible for.

It also warned that without any additional internal or external funding, it may have to reduce the work being undertaken in future years.

The council also described in a report by cabinet member for highways and transport, Carl Quartermain how “unforeseen failures” had impacted its budgeting and explained the borrowing was to “ensure the safety and longevity” of assets belonging to it.

It said, from the borrowing, £500,000 was being put towards the costs of a landslip in Grinkle Lane, Easington, and a further £150,000 allocated to manage a sink hole which appeared on Eston Rec at the end of last year. Storm damage to the Dundas Street slipway, on Redcar seafront, had also undermined that particular structure, causing concrete pads to lift and drop.