Concerns over road safety and dwindling maintenance budgets have sparked calls for Swindon Borough Council to urgently adopt a new national standard that could help prioritise repairs and save lives.
Cllr Nick Gardiner did not mince his words when describing the current situation, pointing out that this year’s pothole repair budget has been cut to just £170,000 – a two‑thirds reduction on the previous year. He described it as “not so much a pothole budget as a pothole gesture”, and warned that only £55,000 has been set aside for road markings, cats’ eyes and white lining across the entire borough.
“These markings are often the only thing preventing near‑misses turning into head‑on collisions,” he said. “If Labour in Swindon genuinely believes that level of funding will deliver safe, high‑quality roads, then they are kidding themselves. Money is tight, yes, but that’s why we need to be smarter.”
Cllr Gardiner believes that adopting PAS 2161 – a new specification from the British Standards Institute – could help councils like Swindon make better‑informed decisions. The standard enables authorities to focus limited resources on the highest‑risk areas first, using data rather than guesswork.
Cllr Gary Sumner, who represents one of the most rural wards in the borough, echoed these concerns. He described junctions with no visible white lines in areas such as Foxhill, Liddington and Hinton Parva, despite the roads carrying national speed limits.
“At some of these crossroads you simply cannot see the markings at all,” he said. “Yet we see parking bays being repainted in town, while safety‑critical junctions are left to deteriorate. This new standard could make a real difference if adopted without delay.”
The councillors’ joint statement calls for the council to act now, rather than wait until more serious accidents highlight the scale of the problem.
