THE battle to fill York's potholes will be made much harder by cutbacks in Government funding for road repairs, a leading Lib Dem councillor has warned.

Cllr Stephen Fenton, writing a column in today's Press, said the loss of more than a million pounds a year from the Government was the equivalent of filling nearly 19,000 potholes.

He said potholes and uneven footpaths in residential streets might seem to some to be a low priority but, if people were cycling along those streets or walking or wheeling along those footpaths, they were very real problems.

"However, our significant investment locally on highways maintenance has been undermined by cuts in national highway maintenance budgets," said Cllr Fenton, the party's transport spokesperson at City of York Council.

"York’s allocation of national road repair funding has been slashed by almost a third by the Government.

"In 2020/21, York received a total of £4 million towards highways maintenance from central government.

"This was cut by 29.5 per cent (£1.2m) to £2.8m in 2021/22. This considerably smaller allocation has now been frozen for three years."

He said that as repair costs were rising due to inflation and poor weather conditions, the freeze would mean a further real-terms cut every single year.

"With a backlog of road repairs and skyrocketing labour and material costs, these cuts will make this work increasingly challenging."

Cllr Fenton said the Liberal Democrats were committed to producing a transport strategy that would help the council take bold action, whilst bringing residents and businesses with it as it created a transport network that was fit for York’s future.

"Many of us travel in many different ways – I cycle, walk, use a car and use the bus," he said.

"The choices we all make are influenced by different factors, some within our control and some without. It’s vital however that people are supported to choose the options that best meet their needs, and the city’s needs.

"York’s transport strategy will reflect those needs, it will have to support the delivery of the Local Plan and the delivery of our agreed strategies to combat climate change, drive economic development and support better health and wellbeing strategies."

He said the draft strategy consultation set out a range of potential interventions, including the development of the park and ride network and other key bus routes, delivery of a large programme of measures to make walking and cycling safer and more attractive and measures to develop the orbital A1237 and A64 routes so that through traffic was diverted away from York city centre and village centres.

He added that the council would be working with developers to ensure that the strategic sites being progressed through the Local Plan were delivered in ways consistent with high use of sustainable transport.