A BID to trigger a referendum to raise £29 million extra in council tax beyond the already planned rise for a host of road repairs across Devon has failed.

A motion put to the full chamber budget meeting at Devon County Council proposed the extra cash as part of aspirations to bolster responsive and emergency pothole repairs, road defects, drainage maintenance and other highway-related schemes.

But the request – put forward by Councillor Paul Hayward (Independent, Axminster) – would have meant residents being asked to agree to a more than five per cent hike in council tax above the 4.99 per cent Devon was set to ask for.

The 4.99 per cent number is significant, because it is the legal limit by which a council such as Devon, which has responsibility for adult social care, can raise council tax by each year.

Any council wishing to increase council tax by more is obliged to hold a referendum, whereby residents could vote for or against the proposal.

The call for the extra funding came even as Devon confirmed recently that highways would receive an additional £15 million of additional capital investment in 2026/27 to target preventative maintenance, resurfacing and patching.

Furthermore, the administration had identified £4 million in additional revenue funding for highway drainage improvements, gully clearance, vegetation management and other preventative work.

In the end, only four members voted for Cllr Hayward’s proposal, with 44 against and 10 abstentions, of which included Green member Councillor Andy Ketchin (St David’s and Haven Banks) who was named as the seconder in council papers.

Councillor Hayward said the council needed to “make sure that as an authority we get every possible penny’s worth of value” from the money it gets in.

He claimed that just like 58p of vehicle fuel charges go to the Treasury, some of council taxpayers’ money went to “the private sector that is profiting from children’s and adult’s social care”.

He added that he wanted the chairs of each highways committee across Devon to collaborate with the highways cabinet member, Councillor Dan Thomas (Liberal Democrat, South Brent) to look at highways spending.

“The system isn’t working but I’m happy to liaise with Cllr Thomas to make sure it does,” he said.

Councillor Julian Brazil (Liberal Democrat, Kingsbridge), the leader of the council, said extra money had already been directed towards highways as part of the proposed budget.

His cabinet colleague, Councillor James Buczkowski (Liberal Democrat, Cullompton) the cabinet member for finance who has worked with officers to draw up the budget for the forthcoming financial year, said the expected cost of a referendum would be £2.5 million, adding: “I don’t think there has been a successful council tax referendum.”

Both Councillors Andrew Leadbetter (Wearside and Topsham), the leader of the Conservative group, and Councillor Michael Fife Cook (Yelverton Rural), leader of the Reform UK group, expressed their opposition to the bid to raise council tax by even more.