Shropshire Council is working with Church Preen, Hughley & Kenley Parish Council to pilot a new community led ‘road warden’ scheme, giving local people a greater role in keeping their roads, verges and public spaces safe, clean and well maintained.
The scheme will enable trained volunteers, coordinated by the parish council, to carry out a range of small scale highway and street scene tasks at agreed locations across the parish. The pilot is designed to tackle minor issues more quickly, improve the appearance of the local area and strengthen partnership working between communities and the council.
The pilot scheme is based on the Devon Road Warden Scheme which has been running successfully for several years, with several parishes taking on agreed local road maintenance functions in collaboration with Devon County Council.
Under the scheme, volunteers will be able to carry out clearly defined, low-risk activities such as litter picking, sign cleaning, minor vegetation trimming, leaf clearance and the reporting of highway defects. In limited, approved circumstances, volunteers may also undertake very small pothole repairs on footways and quiet roads using cold lay materials.
A key first task is to ‘get the water off the roads’ by fixing ditches and drains to clear road surfaces of water, helping to prevent potholes and enabling maintenance work to be carried out. Priorities have been identified through lane-by-lane surveys conducted by the parish council.
All activity will operate within a robust governance framework, as with the proven Devon scheme. Volunteers will receive appropriate training, wear mandatory personal protective equipment and work only within a tightly controlled scope. Activities involving live carriageways, working at height or power tools will not be permitted unless specifically authorised.
David Vasmer, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways and environment, said:
“This pilot scheme offers a number of benefits, including a faster response to small issues, more cost-effective maintenance that will reduce the pressure on Shropshire Council resources, and cleaner, safer and more attractive roads and verges. It will also strengthen the relationship between Shropshire Council and the parish council, ensuring shared responsibility for public spaces.
“If other parish councils are interested in setting up their own road warden scheme I encourage them to contact us.”
Chris Naylor, Shropshire Councillor for Burnell, said:
“We’ve been working towards this for a year now: my first parish council meeting here said ‘we want to help fix our roads locally, as our councillor please help us do that’. So I’m very pleased that Shropshire Council officers have been supportive, arranging training, kit and signs for our new road wardens. My greatest thanks is to local volunteers including farmers, builders, parish councillors who are kindly giving up precious time to clear muddy ditches and get muck out of drains: to ‘get the water off the roads’, so the council can get on with necessary maintenance.”
Richard Roycroft, chair of Church Preen, Hughley & Kenley Parish Council, said:
“We’re very concerned about the state of our lanes here locally. Residents understandably complain about road surface and pothole problems. Visitors often sadly incur tyre and wheel damage and local businesses suffer.
“So we’re keen to do our bit here to ‘get the water off the roads’ – then Shropshire Council can come and fix the lanes. I’ve been checking ditches and drains and clearing those is top priority. We were delighted to get nearly 40 residents to a local volunteers meeting. We’ve now had our training and we’re very pleased to be making a start.”
The next phase of developing partnership working with parish and town councils will be lead by Alex Wagner, deputy Leader of Shropshire Council.
Further information
The pilot scheme aims to:
- empower the parish council to address minor issues more quickly;
- improve road safety and the appearance of local streets;
- encourage community involvement and civic pride; and
- support environmental goals, including the protection of wildlife verges and green spaces.
Shropshire Council will provide oversight, technical guidance, waste collection and other practical backup [eg. drainage teams coming in to clear drains that the wardens can’t fix] for works delivered through the scheme. The parish council will coordinate volunteers, ensure appropriate insurance is in place and keep clear records of activity and outcomes.
The pilot will be closely monitored, with success measured through a range of indicators including response times, the number of issues resolved, community participation and resident feedback. Learning from the pilot will help inform decisions on whether the scheme could be expanded to other parishes in the future.
Residents will continue to be able to report larger or safety critical highway issues through Shropshire Council’s normal reporting channels, with parish road wardens acting as additional ‘eyes and ears’ at a local level.
