Wiltshire Council is investing millions of pounds into filling potholes, resurfacing roads and tackling the causes of highways flooding throughout the county in 2024/25.

The council has allocated an extra £10m over the next two years to spend on filling potholes and a road resurfacing programme that will help to prevent potholes and other highways defects across all areas of the county. The investment will also fund more small, local repairs to verges on rural roads.

This funding is in addition to the £20.7m the council receives from the Government’s Highways Maintenance fund for 2024/25, plus the £5.2m from the Department for Transport’s recently announced Road Resurfacing Fund following the cancellation of HS2.

The council also allocated an extra £1m in its recent budget for emptying gullies around the county to prevent flooding and enable teams to focus on problem areas that are most at risk – on top of the £1.27m the council already spends on gully emptying.

Cllr Caroline Thomas, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “While other councils around the county are cutting budgets, we are investing millions into the everyday things that matter to people, such as filling potholes, resurfacing roads and emptying gullies to help prevent road flooding. And that is on top of the tens of millions we already spend on these highways issues with Government grants.

“We have also recently invested more than £1.5m into painting white lines, renewing road signs, tackling fly-tipping and cleaning up litter – because we know that these are the things that people care about, and they’re the small things that improve their communities and make travelling that little bit easier.

“This is all part of our Business Plan commitment to have vibrant, well-connected communities and to invest in our highways network.“

The changes won’t happen overnight but, over the coming months, people in all areas of the county will see more resurfacing work, more potholes filled and more gullies emptied as this multi-million pound investment starts to bear fruit, said the council.