A pilot scheme in Shropshire will see the residents of three villages take on some minor road repairs such as filling in potholes.

Shropshire Council is working with Church Preen, Hughley and Kenley Parish Council, to trial a new community-led ‘road warden’ scheme, giving local people a greater role in keeping their roads, verges and public spaces safe, clean and well maintained, says the Shropshire Star.

The scheme will enable trained volunteers, coordinated by the parish council, to carry out a range of small scale highway and street scene tasks at agreed locations across the parish.

The idea was first mooted earlier this year, and the pilot has now been announced and is designed to tackle minor issues more quickly, improve the appearance of the local area and strengthen partnership working between communities and the council.

The pilot scheme is based on the Devon Road Warden Scheme which has been running successfully for several years, with several parishes taking on agreed local road maintenance functions in collaboration with Devon County Council.

Under the scheme, volunteers will be able to carry out clearly defined, low-risk activities such as litter picking, sign cleaning, minor vegetation trimming, leaf clearance and the reporting of highway defects, but in limited, approved circumstances, volunteers may also undertake very small pothole repairs on footways and quiet roads using cold lay materials.

A key first task is to ‘get the water off the roads’ by fixing ditches and drains to clear road surfaces of water, helping to prevent potholes from forming and enabling maintenance work to be carried out. Priorities have been identified through lane-by-lane surveys conducted by the parish council.

(Picture: Highways News)