The amount of money spent on repairing potholes in Cornwall is expected to rise, a councillor has said.
Dan Rogerson, Cornwall Council’s transport portfolio holder, said an early reading of the local budget shows the money the authority will get to maintain roads “will go up slightly over the course of three years”.
Cornwall received about £32m this financial year from the government, with an additional £12m dependent demonstrating a record of success. As of mid November, the council had fixed 28,828 potholes so far in 2025, compared with 37,381 in the whole of 2024.
The Department for Transport has said the government was spending £7.3bn over the next four years on improving road surfaces across Britain.
“It looks like the amount of money we will be getting to maintain the roads will go up slightly over the course of the three years,” Rogerson told BBC Radio Cornwall.
“I think that is a reflection of the government’s confidence in Cornwall Council to spend the money properly.”
Rogerson said there is “a huge” number of roads which need repairing, not just in Cornwall’s urban spaces but in rural areas too.
The council’s contractor Cormac has been using trialling new materials, such as Elastomac, which Rogerson said would lead to “longer lasting” repairs.
Elastomac is made up of recycled aggregates, bitumen and used tyres.
“Elastomac bonds with the road surface and it means you don’t have to cut as deep to repair a pothole.
“Part of the issue is when you cut around an existing pothole, you also end up weakening the road surface around it.
“Ideally you want that to be totally watertight surface,” Rogerson said.
He added: “But in January I’ll be looking into whether we think those trials are working.”
