Senior council officers are to investigate why members were told it could take up to two years for a pothole fixing JCB to be delivered - when the company themselves say the wait time is just nine weeks.
At a recent full meeting of West Dunbartonshire Council, the local authority agreed to invest in a JCB Pothole Pro.
The state-of-the-art machine can repair an average pothole in just eight minutes according to the manufacturer, with three tools included to make sure that any repairs are lasting.
However a report presented to members at Church Street recommended that spending on the device was reviewed, stating: “This is a bid for a JCB pothole patcher which has a long lead in time.
“No costs are allocated yet but likely to exceed £100k. Purchase can be considered as part of wider roads review.’
Lomond councillor Jonathan McColl asked: “At the last budget we made a decision that the council would buy a JCB Pothole Pro.
“We’ve been told twice, once at full council and once at a meeting of the infrastructure, regeneration and economic development committee (IRED) that there’s an issue with getting delivery of these machines. Is that still the case?”
In response WDC’s chief officer for resources, Laurence Slavin, said: “My understanding is that some of these things are looking at 18-24 month lead times.
“That particular item doesn’t have any cost allocated to it.
“I’m recommending it’s reprofiled until we know how much it will be, and until we know when it will be delivered.
“That will allow a decision to be made.”
However Councillor McColl responded, saying: “It might be interesting for officers to know that, a few days ago, I phoned JCB and spoke to their UK sales manager.
“He told me that West Dunbartonshire Council hasn’t contacted JCB at all. There’s no note of the council even enquiring on their systems.
“They have stock and a Pothole Pro could be delivered to the council within eight or nine weeks.
“At present they are already delivering to other councils. If we had ordered it when the council made the decision prior to the recess then we would’ve had it, and we would be making revenue savings.
“The budget gap would be smaller.
“Could I please ask officers to investigate this?
“I will pass on details for the JCB sales manager along with the contact details I’ve been provided with for our local supplier, so the council can get on and deliver this.”
Gail Macfarlane, the council’s chief officer for roads, said: “I will investigate that further. We have had engagement with JCB and we looked at a pilot scheme to trial it, but there were none available.
“I will liaise and find out who we have been in contact with at JCB. We had been advised of a lengthy lead time.”
