SOUTHEND Council is set to spend £250,000 on improving roads, allowing for thousands of potholes to be repaired.

The extra cash for road maintenance was agreed by council leaders during a cabinet meeting last week and is part of a wider investment programme which will use money from a forecast budget surplus of £1.6million.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

Cabinet members have already announced their intention to spend £480,000 of the surplus on schools, social services and the High Street but Councillor James Courtenay later increased that figure by an extra £250,000 for road repairs bringing the total up to £730,000.

The money is the equivalent of repairing up to 4,700 potholes across the borough and while much of it will go towards doing this, carriageways will also be repaired and yellow and white lines repainted.

Councillor Andrew Moring, cabinet member for infrastructure, said: “The quality of our highways is something that rightly comes under scrutiny by our residents and it is important that we do all we can to continue to bring our roads and pavements up to the standard expected.

“I am pleased this extra money is available due to the diligent budgeting of our officers and I am even more pleased that we are able to use it to further improve the highways in our borough.”

The £250,000 is on top of the already announced £800,000 in the 2019/20 budget that will fund fully resurfacing several roads.

The remaining money will be split with £130,000 going towards employing two new social workers and the launch a social media campaign that will be aimed at helping victims of exploitation by gangs.

Another £100,000 will go towards the council’s learning team to help the Cecil Jones Academy, Southchurch High School and Chase High School boost their Ofsted ratings to good or outstanding.

The High Street will benefit from £100,000 investment for a “deep clean”, which will see benches treated, streets washed and repainting where needed.

Out of hours and overtime parking enforcement will get a £50,000 boost allowing patrols to take place at school start and finish times as well as wider enforcement in the town out of hours.

The final £100,000 will go to “branding and marketing of the borough” which will include adding more street signs in the High Street and the seafront and to improving awareness of Southend in areas outside of Essex. This includes advertising the Pier, Adventure Island, theatres and museums.

The remainder of the £1.6million will be redistributed among reserves to protect against financial uncertainty.

Councillor James Courtenay, deputy leader and cabinet member for growth, said: “While it would be irresponsible for us to spend all of the extra money available, it would also be a shame for residents to not feel the benefit of our sound financial management and the rapid improvement this cash injection allows.

“I’m very pleased we are able to put extra money in the pot to deliver more benefits for the people of Southend.”