Parish and town councils are often aware of highways concerns in their area such as potholes, overgrowing vegetation or drainage problems but how can you communicate those concerns to Devon County Council?

Devon’s highways team have been in touch with us wanting to highlight the correct way for parish and town councils to report highways concerns.

As a reminder, highways concerns should be channelled through the clerk who may either liaise with their County Councillor, report issues directly online, or contact their Neighbourhood Highway Officer.  Clerks are encouraged to inform their County Councillor of their concerns even if using alternative methods to report them.

Please note the highways team do not have the capacity to manage additional enquiries from individual councillors. Anyone other than the clerk wishing to report a highways concern may do so either online or by contacting the customer service centre on 0345 155 1004 or csc.roads@devon.gov.uk.

Some councils have been able to take a proactive approach to some highways problems so they can tackle problems themselves.

One way is by joining the Road Warden scheme which allows councils to carry out work that Devon County Council are unable to do, so works can be completed sooner with more of a say from the community in what works are carried out and when.

There’s also the Highway Maintenance Community Enhancement Fund from Devon County Council which provides funding for communities to carry out local work such as pothole repairs, drain clearance and fingerpost maintenance. There are some case studies here on how councils have used that funding as well as our own story from Mary Tavy who used the funding to cover the costs of a parish lengthsman.

If you have any stories about successfully tackling a highways issue in your parish, then we’d love to hear about it!