Why does nobody want to sponsor our roundabouts in Milton Keynes?

Conservatives councillors are calling for local businesses to be allowed to advertise for free on MK roundabouts.

They say the sponsorship scheme for the roundabouts and bus shelters has "collapsed", with figures showing a 200% reduction.

"Figures from MK Council’s budget show that the Council were expecting £280,000 of income from roundabout sponsorship in the last 12 months but only received £9,000," said Tory group leader Cllr Alex Walker.

He said many of the 130 roundabouts in MK have old or empty advertisements.

The Conservatives are calling for the unused roundabouts to be offered to local tradespeople and businesses. Rather than keeping the roundabouts underused, the council should be offering sponsorship for free to boost the local economy and allow businesses to promote their services.

As it stands, most roundabout sponsorship costs between £2000 and £5000 for a single year, say the Tories.

Cllr Walker said: “We are committed to delivering an ambitious post-pandemic recovery plan that puts supporting small businesses as the cornerstone. This is one of many proposals that we have that will support local companies in boosting their trade.

"With over 130 roundabouts in the city, it’s an absolute joke that this Council does nothing to allow small businesses to promote their services by gatekeeping roundabout sponsorship with huge sponsorship fees that deter interest.

"We should be combining our many fantastic roundabouts with the opportunity to support local jobs and our economy.”

Most of the roundabouts on MK grid road network are available for sponsorship from less than £40 per week for a basic package over 12 months.

Each roundabout is graded as Basic, Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum. This is based on the amount of traffic flow around the roundabout, and the grading reflected in the sponsorship costs.