Budget constraints prevent council from getting a new pothole machine

Councillor Warren Aubin has been lobbying for Bathurst Regional Council to modernise it approach to address potholes for years.

READ MORE: Bathurst's pothole problem could be better managed with new machine

His goal has been to get a new, more efficient machine, but once again he was unable to get the project over the line during budget deliberations for the 2022-23 financial year.

"The budget constraints wouldn't let me do it," he said.

"It's just below the line, but I will endeavour to keep going with it because it's one of those things that's not deemed necessary have to have, but it would be nice to have."

While not everyone agrees that the equipment is necessary, Cr Aubin is adamant that it is.

He said there are significant benefits to updating the equipment, not only for the region's roads, but economically.

READ ALSO: Council crews tackling potholes after heavy rain

The equipment would result in a better quality repair, reducing the likelihood of the work needing to be redone, and it wouldn't require as many staff as are currently utilised to fix potholes.

"It's not so labour intensive. There is one bloke in the truck and maybe one other, so it's pretty good that way," Cr Aubin said.

"And in the long run it would actually save council, so therefore the ratepayers, some money - which would be good, and do a better job to boot."

He said that he will be asking council to at least trial the equipment and then continue to lobby for it to purchase its own.

"We've got to upgrade the way that we fix roads, potholes especially, to the highest level we can do it, and at the moment we're still doing it the same way we did it 20 years ago," he said.

"We haven't caught up with technology in mending potholes, so I really think a machine like that, which is pretty high-tech stuff, would be well worth the effort of getting.

"We'll keep proceeding. I'm not giving up."

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