By local democracy reporter Jude Holden
A NEW machine could help fix Wiltshire potholes more efficiently, and with longer-lasting results.
That’s the claim from Wiltshire councillor Dr Brian Matthew who is proposing the £200,000 Pothole Pro machine be used by the authority to fix the county’s roads.
It follows other calls from elected members to tackle poor road surfaces in ‘neglected’ areas of Wiltshire.
Construction equipment manufacturer JCB makes the machine and it works by cutting potholes and the surrounding cracked surface out of the road with a drill. Then a brush spins around and sweeps the debris into a bucket and the pothole is then filled. The company claims it can do the job in just eight minutes.
Cllr Matthew said at the environment select committee meeting of Wiltshire Council on Tuesday 6th June that the machine, or others like it, could be the solution.
He said, “What it seems to offer us is a quicker way of dealing with potholes and also a more permanent way of dealing with them because we’ve all seen potholes that have been repaired and then within weeks the repair has popped out. I would like to suggest this alternative is looked into.”
Wiltshire Council corporate director Parvis Khansari responded and said, “I can assure you that this authority scans what is going on constantly.
“May I suggest that rather than looking into one product which has got media coverage we should have a session and report from highways in terms of what we’re doing to make sure we get value for money and good quality repairs then we can discuss what range of products are available.”
This suggestion was accepted by the meeting chairman, cllr Jerry Kunkler. Cllr Matthew added it would be up to the council highways department to figure out how many would be needed if they do choose to use the machine.
Recent calls for more work to be done on the county’s roads were made at the overview and scrutiny management committee of Wiltshire Council on Tuesday 23rd May.
The leader of Wiltshire Council Richard Clewer said in response to the concerns at the meeting, “We are looking at making effective use right now of the extra £3.6 million the government gave us specifically for potholes.”
A video of the machine can be seen on the company’s website here: https://shorturl.at/ghqsE
