A £1 million road improvement budget should be used to help cut speeds on rural roads around Armadale, a local councillor has said - after it was confirmed the area had received £5m less investment than promised over the last five years.
Armadale’s Independent councillor, Stuart Borrowman argued the ward had been short-changed on promises in the last five years and deserved the extra spending.
READ MORE: West Lothian children map dog fouling sites around their school
Residents living on rural roads around Westfield and Torphichen have been campaigning for more than a year to have speed limits brought down from 40mpm to 30mph. New signs in three areas could cost well over £100,000.
As the 2022/23 budget was voted through - the last of this administration- Councillor Borrowman highlighted a list of undelivered spending promises in the Armadale and Blackridge ward over the last five years.
Head of Finance, Donald Forrest confirmed the £175m capital spend voted through in 2018 had promised £14.63m to the Armadale ward, with most of that going into two primary schools.
At the end of the five year spending plan however just over £9m will have been spent. There has been a radical reduction in spending plans for Eastertoun Primary and planned investment at St Anthony’s Primary has been scrapped.
Councillor Borrowman said that as late as 2020 there were plans to spend £3.75m at Eastertoun but this has dropped to £1.4m.
Officials explained that promised funding from developer investment had not materialised because there was sufficient capacity across all three primary schools in Armadale for the next ten years. Additionally Scottish Government Match funding for Eastertoun had not been delivered.
Councillor Borrowman doubted that the school roles could have deviated so rapidly between Mid 2020 and now to effect such a cut in funding.
He also raised questions on funding for sports pitches in the town, nine years after the first promises were made.
Estates Manager Paul Kettrick explained that initial plans had been to develop Watson Park including building changing facilities. However ground conditions had forced a rethink.
There are now plans to develop a 3g pitch scheduled to start later this year at Volunteer Park, home to Armadale Thistle.
Councillor Borrowman asked Mr Forrest: “The capital programme I voted for 2018 promised an 8.34% share for the ward. The out-turn [this year] will be 4.96%. Can you confirm those figures with your understanding?”
Mr Forrest agreed.
After the meeting Councillor Borrowman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The Labour administration allocated £14.6m in funding for capital projects in Armadale and Blackridge in the period 2018-23 when it came into office. I voted for that package as it represented a fair share of the available resources.
“Despite the size of the overall programme increasing over the period, Labour used its inbuilt majority on the Council Executive to cut £5m from Armadale and Blackridge share: more than a third.
“These aren’t abstract numbers: the effect is a much reduced refurbishment at Eastertoun; cancelled works at St. Anthony's; and an inability to meet the full cost of providing modern sports facilities at Volunteer Park.”
