Shropshire Council has announced plans to close two of its five highways depots, as part of plans to further improve the council’s highways maintenance service.
Under the proposals, the depots at Bridgnorth and Hodnet would close, with operations continuing at the three main depots in Whittington, Shrewsbury and Craven Arms.
The council says that no jobs would be lost, and modelling has demonstrated that there will be no detrimental impact on services to those areas currently covered by those depots.
Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways, said:
“The decision to close these two depots was taken to help provide a more effective service and as part of our wider operational improvement plan, and wasn’t driven by cost savings. Indeed, the reduction in overheads will free up money that can be reinvested into our work to improve Shropshire’s roads.”
The focusing of operations from three depots in Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Craven Arms means that the council and its contractor Kier can be co-located so that there are better communications, oversight and consistency across the board, and will enable improvement in the quality of works and engagement with stakeholders.
Each of the three remaining depots will be managed by an area manager from both Shropshire Council and Kier, supported by local technicians and supervisors.
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