Plans for much-needed road and pavement repairs in Castle Point could be axed after the borough's grant was cut by £165,000, it was revealed today.
Nigel Thomas, Castle Point's director of technical services, said he was "disappointed" by Essex County Council's decision to reduce the annual basic maintenance grant to £372,957 from £537,957 last year.
He said the grant was used for programmes such as filling potholes, repairing pavements and improving footpaths in the borough.
Mr Thomas said: "This cutback means there will only be enough money to do work deemed very urgent and everything else will have to wait."
He said it was the first time in years Essex County Council had reduced the basic maintenance grant to Castle Point and blamed it on the use of a new formula for working out how much each district should get.
The news of the budget cut comes after angry residents spoke out about the state of the borough's pavements.
Margaret O'Regan, of High Road, Benfleet, said pavement conditions were "dangerous", particularly in Benfleet. She demanded that something was done to improve the state of the pavements in the area.
Published Thursday, June 12, 2003
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