Welsh government could cut cycle lane funding to fix roads, as councillor calls for active travel budget to be diverted in area dubbed ‘Pothole Land’

Cycling funding in Wales could be reduced and diverted to deal with the country’s pothole problem, the Welsh transport secretary allegedly told a councillor in Wrexham, where the local authority has been urged to reallocate some of its active travel budget to repair the roads in an area recently dubbed ‘Pothole Land’ by campaigners.

Earlier this week, Wrexham Council’s deputy leader Dave Bithell told the local authority’s homes and environment scrutiny committee that Ken Skates, Wales’ current cabinet secretary for transport and North Wales, is considering cutting the Labour government’s Active Travel Fund to pay for a “resilient roads” programme.

Bithell revealed the minister’s intentions – which have allegedly divided the Welsh government – as the committee received an update on Wrexham’s own active travel programme, which aims to create safe cycling and walking routes in key areas, particularly around schools. The programme forms part of the Welsh government’s wider goal to ensure that 45 per cent of all journeys are made by active travel and public transport by 2041.

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However, despite the programme receiving around £4.6 million in centralised funding over the past year, a recent audit found that 47 per cent of active travel routes in and around the city were rated either ‘failed’ or ‘critically failed’, and deemed to require significant work to bring up them up to national standards.

Despite this scathing indictment of Wrexham’s cycling and walking infrastructure, Dyffryn Ceiriog councillor Trevor Bates asked during the meeting whether any of the current Active Travel budget could be set aside for pothole repairs.

(John Williams, Facebook)

Bates represents a ward in the nearby Ceiriog valley in north-east Wales, where earlier this month disgruntled residents erected signs and banners declaring the area ‘Pothole Land’, in a bid to draw attention to the disastrous state of the local roads, which they argue have been neglected by Wrexham Council.

The satirical signs – parodying those found at theme park attractions – tell ‘visitors’ that they will experience “two kilometres of award winning potholes with very little actual road to spoil your fun” and that the potholes on offer are “guaranteed to be the deepest, longest, and widest” in Wales.

Councillor Bates’ car also fell victim to the rutted road surfaces in the Ceiriog valley recently, forcing him to fork out £600 in repairs.

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And speaking at this week’s committee meeting, Bates claimed that, despite the area not having a designated cycle route – but an “awful lot of cyclists” – the area’s pothole problem was the most pressing issue for both people on bikes and in cars, and called on the council to divert some active travel funding to road repairs.

“I’m delighted to see that the report mentions active travel for all wards,” Bates told the meeting, Wrexham.com reports. “We don’t have a designated cycle route in the Ceiriog Valley but we do have an awful lot of cyclists.

“The one thing they keep telling me is they’re fed up with potholes, to be honest. I’m just wondering if we could use some of this money?

“If you share out the Active Travel budget among the 56 councillors that equates to about £80,000 – we could use to repair some of these potholes.”

(John Williams, Facebook)

In response, the local authority’s deputy leader Bithell admitted that it was possible to spend some of the council’s active travel funding on road repairs, and that discussions were currently being held within the government concerning plans to cut the national cycling and walking fund, in order to increase investment in tackling the country’s pothole problems.

 “I have raised active travel funding with the transport secretary Ken Skates. He has said authorities are allowed to use some aspects of active travel funding for road repairs,” Bithell said.

“The minister is looking at reducing the active travel fund down from its current levels to put more money into resilient roads. Those discussions have been taking place with the Welsh government.

“I’m not sure it’s going to happen this financial year because I know there are differing views in the Welsh government about the use of active travel funding.

“But in respect of potholes, clearly I’m aware of the issues that have been raised around ‘Pothole Land’, and I spoke with the Chief Officer for Environment who is going to arrange a meeting with Cllr Bates in the near future to look at the problems there in detail.”