Kirklees Council will be progressing its plans to charge utility companies and contractors thousands of pounds for causing disruption on the borough’s busiest roads.
This week, Cabinet approved plans to move forward with a Lane Rental Scheme. This would allow the council to charge organisations a daily fee when they are working on the most traffic-sensitive roads at the busiest time. This charge can be up to £2,500 per day, though there are some exceptions like in emergencies or when work is of national importance.
With this latest permission, the council will now submit an application to the Department for Transport. If approved, the scheme is likely to be effective in summer 2026. The council says that similar schemes have led to improved collaboration between contractors and councils and reduced delays on the roads.
While the Cabinet report does not set out the roads that will be impacted by the scheme, it does say that the restrictions will cover 10 per cent of the total length of the district’s roads, only during certain time periods.
Councillor Tyler Hawkins, Cabinet Member for Highways and Waste said: “We all want to see less disruption and delay from roadworks which is exactly what the Lane Rental Scheme will help us to do. This scheme gives us new tools to encourage better coordination, better planning, and more efficient working between the council, contractors and utility companies — particularly on our most critical routes.
“We are introducing the Lane Rental Schemes alongside neighbouring councils after it has already been shown to be effective in achieving better coordination and cooperation in other areas. I’m excited to see the same here in Kirklees.
“This decision comes at a time of big changes as we are seeing lots of investment and improvements to our infrastructure which will bring long term gains for our home. We want to keep things moving as smoothly as possible as we unlock more investment for Kirklees, and the Lane Rental Scheme is a key part of that.”
