Parish council left unimpressed as cash for village spent on major road

Councillors in Hixon, near Stafford, said they were unhappy around £40,000 gifted to the village from developers in return for building homes, known as Section 106 payments, over the last two decades had been spent on speed measures on a main road outside Hixon.

They said they had rather improvements had been made directly in the village instead.

Staffordshire County Council said around three quarters of the cash had been spent on speed reduction and safety measures on the A51, which runs past the village.

While not spent directly in Hixon, county council bosses said the improvements on the major road would benefit its residents. The rest of the cash is also to be spent on the A51 following talks with the parish council, county chiefs said.

However, Hixon parish councillors have expressed frustration about the lack of spending in the village.

The money was paid by developers who built industrial units alongside the A51 at Pasturefields over the last two decades. Section 106 cash can be spent local improvements such as parks and play areas as well as roads.

Parish council chairman Brendan McKeown said a scheme to install new white gates in the village had been drawn up on the understand money was available, only then to be told there wasn't any. The parish council ended up paying for it itself.

Councillor McKeown said he wasn't satisfied with the explanation from the county council about the A51 money benefitting Hixon.

He said: "It certainly doesn't wash with us. I want to know where on the A51 and for what reason?

"If they are saying more than £30,000 has been spent in the vicinity of Hixon parish, it hasn't."

A recent parish council newsletter summed up the feelings, saying: "So, of the £40,000 Section 106 money for highway improvements on the A51 in Pasturefields, not a penny appears to have been spent there."

Councillor David Williams, roads boss at Staffordshire County Council, said: “We have been in contact with the parish council about this matter and explained that around three-quarters of the money in question was spent, not long after it was received, on speed reduction and safety measures on the A51, which benefit many people, including the residents of Hixon.

“More recently we’ve been in further conversation with the parish council and others in the area about how to spend the remaining sum of money and chose to fund speed reductions on the A51 near Hixon to introduce a more consistent speed limit along this part and improve safety.”