Caithness campaign group distances itself from council's Highland Roads Recovery message
Caithness roads campaigner Iain Gregory says it is "quite a coincidence" that Highland Council has adopted a slogan bearing a distinct similarity to the name of his own group.
Mr Gregory co-founded Caithness Roads Recovery earlier this year to highlight the extent of potholes and other damage across Caithness and north-west Sutherland. He and fellow campaigner Helen Campbell are due to have an online meeting today (Friday) with council bosses as part of their efforts to get local roads improved.
On Monday, the local authority issued a press release headlined Highland Roads Recovery. It stated that the local authority was "responding to the demand for road and pothole repairs across its region" and suggested that those wishing to follow "the positive progress being made" should use the hashtag #HighlandRoadsRecovery on social media.
Mr Gregory dismissed the press release as offering nothing new, maintained that the funds pledged so far by the council are "grossly inadequate" – and made it clear that Caithness Roads Recovery is a standalone group.
He said: "We are very interested to hear that Highland Council has issued a press release headed Highland Roads Recovery. It is quite a coincidence that this title should be so similar to that of our own campaign group name.
"We would like to make it very clear to everyone that there is absolutely no connection whatsoever between the term Highland Roads Recovery, which has been used by Highland Council, and Caithness Roads Recovery, which is a local campaign group set up by myself and Helen Campbell to attempt to get something done about the utterly appalling mess which the people of Caithness are supposed to live with and about which precious little has been done for many years."
The local authority announced that its teams across the region were "parking up snowploughs and gritters and switching their duties to road surfacing, patching, lining, edging and verging of prioritised projects".
Councillor Trish Robertson (Culloden and Ardersier), chairperson of the economy and infrastructure committee, was quoted as saying: “Over the coming days and weeks, the council will be highlighting some of its roads maintenance works that have recently been completed and these will be featured on social media with the hashtag #HighlandRoadsRecovery
“The council has invested an extra £20 million capital and £1.3 million revenue on road maintenance, reflecting the importance placed on improving Highland roads.
“The council is responding to the demand for road and pothole repairs across its region and assures the public that there are prioritised works programmes which are being actively tackled.
“The impact of the coronavirus pandemic and a long winter has delayed road recovery work over the past year. However, investments in new plant and machinery are enabling staff to repair Highland Council roads quickly and efficiently.”
Mr Gregory, who served for more than 30 years as a police officer, retiring as an area commander, added: "The press release by Highland Council is a reissue of announcements already made some time ago – the sums of money mentioned are precisely the same as publicised an equally long time ago and they are grossly inadequate, amounting to barely 10 per cent of the sums needed for the Highlands.
"Caithness alone probably needs the total sum promised for the whole of the Highlands.
"I would refer readers to the recent statement by Councillor Nicola Sinclair in which, with great honesty, she said 'there are roads we cannot afford to fix'. That is much closer to the true picture."
He added: "For the avoidance of any unfortunate confusion, Caithness Roads Recovery can be found on Facebook and we will be adding a suitable post which we will ask our huge following to share throughout Caithness and the Highlands.
"From the outset, we have run a positive, professional and polite campaign to highlight the dreadful issues that we are suffering in Caithness, and we intend to continue to work with all authorities to put things right."
Mr Gregory and Mrs Campbell are due to have talks today with Highland Council's chief executive Donna Manson and the executive chief officer for infrastructure and environment, Malcolm MacLeod.
Highland Council has the longest local road network of any council in Scotland and is responsible for nearly 7000km of roads, 1700km of footways, 2180 bridges and culverts and 100 car parks. Damage to council-maintained roads and pavements can be reported on the council’s website at www.highland.gov.uk/report
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