Bucks Roads in Crisis: Liberal Democrats Demand Action on £210m Repair Backlog

The party is calling for urgent intervention and greater transparency from the Conservative-led Buckinghamshire Council, accusing it of years of underinvestment that have left the road network in a “perilous” state.

Cllr Susan Morgan, Leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council and representative for Aylesbury North, said residents are “right to be absolutely furious” about the deteriorating road conditions.

“This isn’t just a minor inconvenience,” she said. “What we’ve learnt from sources represents a monumental failure of infrastructure management, coming on top of the DfT’s critical amber warning.”

Morgan rejected claims of “record investment” made by Cllr Steven Broom, the council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, arguing that current funding levels are insufficient to prevent further decline. She also criticised Conservative councillors for voting against a Liberal Democrat proposal to allocate additional funding for repairs.

The Liberal Democrats argue that crumbling roads are not only damaging vehicles but also posing safety risks, particularly to cyclists and motorcyclists.

Cllr Anja Schaeffer, who represents Buckingham, described the situation as “getting dangerous,” adding that residents risk damage to their cars — and in the case of those on two wheels, potentially their lives — each time they travel.

The party further claims that Buckinghamshire ranks as the sixth worst council in the country for compensation payouts related to pothole damage, compounding frustration among residents already facing cost-of-living pressures.

“It is an insult to every taxpayer that our essential road network is being left to rot,” Morgan said.

Cllr Jonathan Waters, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat group and representative for Penn, Tylers Green and Loudwater, warned that current resurfacing rates are unsustainable.

“With only 3.3% of our roads resurfaced each year, we are looking at a scenario where many roads will need to last 30 years or more before renewal — far exceeding their lifespan,” he said. “To see real improvement in our road conditions, we must increase our efforts in resurfacing and preventative maintenance now.”

The Liberal Democrats are demanding that the Conservative administration acknowledge what they describe as a halving of road maintenance budgets under previous Conservative-led councils and governments, and publish a clear strategy to address the growing backlog.

Their message to the council leadership, they say, is straightforward: provide a credible plan to repair Buckinghamshire’s roads and restore public confidence in the county’s infrastructure management.

Thomas Broom, Buckinghamshire Council's Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transport, said:

“Despite government cutting £44.5 million of funding from Buckinghamshire, we continue to invest significantly in our road network, passing a budget last week that delivers on our commitment to a £120 million roads programme. The potential works figure cited as new is not, it reflects the total cost of all potential improvement schemes across the whole highway network and is broadly in line with previous years, in real terms. We have a substantial highway network covering over 2,000 miles and therefore do have a sizeable list of potential schemes, which includes a lot of forward-looking preventative action, this is our long term, strategic approach. Critically, our budget includes a 17% uplift in capital funding for roads, allowing us to resurface more and prevent potholes from forming in the first place.

“The Department for Transport rating of Buckinghamshire as ‘amber’ is not a warning and should not be presented as one. Importantly, this rating has three parts. On condition, we fall in the same banding as most other councils, reflecting the need for work on roads across the country. However, Buckinghamshire is scored highly and assessed as ‘green’ for level of investment in roads and wider best practice, which rates how well that investment is spent. This reflects our strong investment levels and the quality of our wider asset management approach. In other words, we recognise there is more work to do but we score top marks in how we are getting on with the job.

“We absolutely reject any suggestion of underinvestment. Over the past four years we have delivered one of the highest sustained levels of highways investment in the history of the county, and this is steadily improving the condition of our roads. We are focussing particularly on capital works to resurface our roads, which is how we prevent potholes forming in the long run.

“We will continue to do the work to improve our roads with 220 capital resurfacing schemes this financial year, ramping up to 270 in the year from April. We have driven efficiencies in Buckinghamshire Council so that, in the face of government cuts of £44.5 million, we can prioritise investment in our roads because we know this is the top priority for residents.”