That Pothole Killer pimpernel is proving so elusive - Iain Whyte
Every year on 15 January in the UK we mark National Pothole Day. For those of us driving in Edinburgh that means hoping that bumping and crunching through local roads or weaving along to avoid the holes will spare us expensive repairs.
So, what has happened to the council’s fabled Pothole Killer? To much fanfare a JCB Pothole Pro machine was hired in 2023 to “repair roads more efficiently and to a high standard”.
By November 2023 a Conservative colleague had exposed that it was only being used two-thirds of the days it was available.
Productivity was also low. The council claimed it had managed to repair a maximum 140 square metres a day, but the average was only 77. JCB claim it should manage up to 250.
It is hard to get an idea on what has happened with costs as the council said it would take on a second six-month hire “while the fleet replacement programme is developed.”
They also promised some reporting to the transport committee, but I can’t find any evidence of that.
The only updates have been the transport convener giving it passing mentioning in press promotion pieces and a rare council tweet saying they still had the machine on National Pothole Day 2025.
That claimed 22,000 square metres had been repaired. Three times what was completed in the first six months but taking 32 months. Productivity is dropping dramatically.
The Conservative group called for an all-in-one pothole repair machine as long ago as 2018 – famously being told by the SNP’s then transport convener that it was an internet fantasy.
Three years on the lease costs mean we should have bought the Pothole Pro outright. It should also be in use every day, perhaps 24 hours a day, to clear the pothole backlog. Fixing things right first time rather than making temporary repairs.
If we don’t have staff for that, we should train more. If they can’t get the productivity up, we should hire contractors who will. Potholes are a major part of our £77m road repairs backlog so the public would support this regardless of what the Trade Unions might say.
I’m beginning to wonder whether we should be calling it the Pothole Pimpernel. They seek him here; they seek him there. Those motorists seek him everywhere. Is he in Hailesland, or is he in Hillside? That damned, elusive, Pothole pimpernel.