Councils click into the future of planning
In town halls across the country, planning officers are racing to update their Local Plans — but this time, the process looks very different.
DfT throws Norfolk – and Shropshire – a lifeline
05/03/2025 The Department for Transport (DfT) has said it will not ask Norfolk County Council to return £33m funding towards its shelved £274m link road. |
Zurich calls for more cash to improve local road safety
04/03/2025 A major council insurer has called for increased funding for local authority road maintenance and more flexibility when spending it. |
Surrey gets ahead of the pothole game with switch to AI
16/01/2025 Surrey County Council is thought to be the first council in the UK to move away from manual inspections and solely use AI technology to log pothole repairs. |
Manchester makes history with bus franchising
06/01/2025 All of Greater Manchester's bus services have come under local public control following the completion of the combined authority’s phased implementation of a new franchising system. |
'Carbon bomb' warning adds to relief road woes
24/12/2024 Shropshire has shrugged off an estimate of the carbon impact of a road scheme by increasing the budget and timescale for its pledge to offset emissions. |
Quarter of extra pothole cash to be held back
20/12/2024 Ministers have confirmed an extra £500m for local road maintenance in England next year, but a quarter of the cash will be held back on the basis of an incentive process that has yet to be worked out. |
DfT takes Network North £8.3bn off the table
02/12/2024 Department for Transport officials have made clear that councils can no longer count on the previous Government’s pledge of an extra £8.3bn for highways. |
Major Road Network identified as 'road safety priority'
26/11/2024 The crash rate on major local authority roads in England is four times that on National Highways’ strategic road network (SRN), a new report has found. |
'Own goal' as £20m traffic signals fund cancelled
15/11/2024 The Labour government has cancelled a £20m fund for highway authorities to deploy advanced technology for traffic control, which councils had already bid for. |
Council increasingly bothered by badgers
11/11/2024 Damage caused by badgers to a Lincolnshire road ‘has turned out to be much more severe than previously thought,’ the highway authority has said. |
Council declares badger emergency
04/11/2024 Lincolnshire County Council has obtained a ‘last-minute’ licence for emergency works to stop a road falling apart after it was damaged by badgers. |
Budget: Chancellor targets local growth with transport spend
30/10/2024 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced extra transport cash for regional mayors, but departmental spending remains tight. |
Bus fare cap stays for 2025 – at £3 per journey
29/10/2024 Bus fares across the country will rise in the new year as part of a ‘managed exit’ from the £2 fare cap. |
Welsh councils face 'challenging' 20mph decisions
20/09/2024 Welsh authorities face ‘challenging decisions’ as they review requests for some roads to be exempt from the 20mph default speed limit, council leaders say. |
Stafford declares 'roads emergency'
18/09/2024 Councillors in Stafford have declared a ‘roads emergency’ across the county of Staffordshire. |
Council grasps the nettle with ANPR cameras
30/08/2024 Rotherham Council is installing automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras at five ‘key sites’ under new powers to enforce moving traffic offences. |
Huge variation in on-street EV charger provision
27/08/2024 A new report has revealed significant disparities between council areas in electric vehicle (EV) charging provision for EV owners without off-street parking. |
Safety warning as 75-year-old fills potholes
23/08/2024 A Scottish council has expressed health and safety and insurance concerns after a 75-year-old resident used gardening tools to fill in potholes. |
Haigh: Councils should decide on traffic measures
22/08/2024 The transport secretary has pledged to back councils that implement low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) and 20mph limits, with the new government ‘absolutely determined’ to end the Tories’ ‘culture wars’ approach to transport. |
Council adapts culvert to help otters cross road
16/08/2024 West Sussex County Council is installing a new ‘mammal shelf’ in a culvert under the A272 to help otters crossing the road. |
