Balfour Beatty get £150million Highways and Streetscene Contract

Wiltshire Council has announced that a multi-million pound contract to maintain Wiltshire highways and streetscene has been awarded to Balfour Beatty Living Places, subject to a 10-day stand still period.

Local decision-making will be at the forefront of the contract which deals with services such as highway maintenance, grass cutting, litter collection and street lighting.

Currently the services, which also include dealing with winter weather, drainage and bridges, are covered by four different organisations, including an in-house team, but under the new contract the works will be carried out by one contractor. The value of the contract over five years will be around £150m.

Dick Tonge, cabinet member for highways said: "We welcome this decision and look forward to working with Balfour Beatty Living Places on ensuring key services which affect all our lives are delivered well by one contractor. This contract also reflects the significant role our local communities play in recommending highway improvements in their own areas."

The decision was made as the government announced Wiltshire would receive a further £3.6m of additional funding for highways maintenance over the next two years as part of a drive to improve transport infrastructure across England.

Dick Tonge said: "This is tremendous news for Wiltshire as it immediately boosts the number of works we can achieve over the next two years to improve our highways network and to counter the effects on the roads of events such as the recent severe flooding."