DEVELOPERS will have to pay towards the cost of maintaining highways infrastructure in Worcestershire.
Cabinet members signed off a ‘commuted sums’ policy on Thursday (October 22) covering non-standard highways assets, subject to consultation.
The policy covers anything added to a road that will require a higher or different level of maintenance to the council’s standard specification.
This can include bespoke paving, specialist street lighting, trees, landscaped areas and other enhanced highway features.
A commuted sum is a one-off payment that would cover the long-term future maintenance cost of the item in question.
At Thursday’s meeting, highways chief Tom Wells said: “This will protect the highways maintenance budget, it will protect taxpayers and provide transparency.
“It will ensure new infrastructure remains financially viable for the duration of its life.”
He said the policy won’t cover roads and pavements, but more specialist items such as raised platforms and street lights.
Cllr Wells said the council would follow national guidance from the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) in setting the charges.
“Other councils including Leicestershire have done this,” he said, “and the commuted sums will last 60 years unless it’s a bridge, then it’s 120 years. And traffic lights will last 20 years.”
After these timeframes have passed, the costs of the maintenance would revert back to the council.
The council said it doesn’t currently have a formal policy for charging developers to contribute to the upkeep of such assets.
Cabinet papers said not introducing a commuted sums policy would lead to “an ever-increasing financial burden on the authority for the maintenance of non-standard highway assets when they are adopted” by the council.
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“The commuted sums policy supports opportunities for developers to reflect local characteristics and distinctiveness where appropriate without placing a financial burden on the local authority.”
Deputy council leader Adam Kent said: “This is a really important move forward in how we handle the cost of maintaining specific assets.
“It is difficult for the council to pick up the pieces when developers build loads of homes and can’t maintain [the infrastructure].”
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