According to a press release from WNC the new JCB Pothole Pro machine has patched 12,500 sq metres of roadway since coming into use in August 23.
WNC claim that they have used the machine for 152 days.
While this may seem like a lot, JCB sales brochure state the machine is capable of 250 sq metres a day.
152 x 250 = 38,000 sq metres.
Or put another way 12,500 / 250 = 50 days
SNC are running this machine at ONE THIRD of the capacity that the manufacturers say it can operate at.
The machine could do that 12,500 sq metres of roadway in 50 days but WNC took THREE TIMES LONGER.
We have enough pot holes to fix and keep this machine running 24 hrs a day for weeks.
The press release states that the machine was estimated to use 9 tonnes of tarmac a day, but has been using 15 tonnes a day. Is this the issue, cannot afford the extra materials?
Tarmac is £45 to £60 per tonne so max of £300 a day is holding this up about £78,000 per year for materials.
I proposed a budget amendment to put £2,000,000 into the roads budget from 1 April, the council ruling Conservatives defeated it. There were a few notable exceptions who supported common sense.
So why can the council run a machine at a third of its output?
Why does it not make funds funds available to run at top speed?
Everyone agrees that the state of the roads in the district is dire. We have a machine capable of making a difference but WNC are not unleashing its power. Running the kit at one third of its stated output is unacceptable. The council was given a choice to fund this machine fully and make a difference on our roads and it chose to bank the cash instead.
