Geva Blackett “couldn’t believe it” when she realised a pothole in dire need of repair had been ignored while bungling workers filled a smaller cavity inches away.
The Aberdeenshire councillor called in the roads team to fix damage on a popular tourist route near Balmoral Castle.
After being told the work at Crathie was complete, she arrived to discover the blunder.
The Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside member revealed the episode as the council launched a review of its road inspection policy.
The guidance is reviewed every five years to ensure Aberdeenshire Council is able to manage and maintain the 3,467 miles of roads it is responsible for.
Councillor raised concerns after pothole repair error
A draft of the latest review went before the Marr area committee recently.
Mrs Blackett, fresh from an appearance on Masterchef, said workers had made a meal of repairs on stretch between Ballater and Braemar.
The recent pothole blunder took place at the junction of the A93 and B976, between Ballater and Braemar.
She asked: “How economical is it, in terms of the pound and also carbon footprint, to fill a pothole but leave the one next to it?”
Ms Blackett went on to explain that the council’s roads team filled a pothole but missed the one right next to it – the crater she had initially reported.
She said: “One Sunday I came to to the junction where the B976 meets the A93.
“There were a couple of quite bad potholes and they were only going to get worse.”
Council’s current pothole repair method not ‘good practice’
The councillor reported the larger pothole online and almost immediately got a response back saying it had been fixed.
Doubting the quick reply, Ms Blackett took it up with the service and discovered they had filled the one next to it instead.
“I couldn’t believe it… You need common sense,” she said.
“If you have multiple potholes in one place, you would think they would fill them all at once to save them coming back.
“To come out to remote rural roads and ignore other potholes in the area doesn’t seem to be good practice.”
She added: “Why fill one if two are in the same place?”
‘They’ve got to get on top of this huge issue’
Road repairs had faced a delay due to the pandemic as team members were either off work or diverted to help in other departments.
But Mrs Blackett said time must be of the essence in resolving the problem.
She said: “Roads have deteriorated substantially and many councils don’t have the money to fix them.
“But they’ve got to get on top of this huge issue.
“Aberdeenshire Council has to work in the most efficient way to the public pound and as effectively as possible.”
Council’s roads team hailed for keeping roads in top condition
Committee chairman Robbie Withey agreed.
He said: “If you are coming out to fix a pothole and there’s another one next to it, we do get a lot of complaints saying ‘why on earth didn’t they fix that while they were there?'”
But he also praised the roads team in Aberdeenshire for their maintenance efforts.
He said: “Our roads have always ranked very highly in terms of other local authorities in Scotland for condition.
“Having just driven back from Glasgow, I can certainly say that some of the roads down there are treacherous at best.”
Feedback from the meeting will be passed on.
Conversation