08/09/2026
Wiltshire Council pothole task force drops ‘pothole’ from its name
A task force charged with fixing Wiltshire’s dilapidated roads has dropped the word ‘pothole’ from its name – while the number of pothole-fixing machines has been cut.
In a report to be considered by Wiltshire Council’s Environment Select Committee next week, the cross-party group will hear the first job of the council’s Pothole Task Group was to rename itself the Highway Repair Task Group.
Meanwhile, the same report says the council’s much-vaunted fleet of pothole-filling machines has quietly been reduced from three to two.
The task group was convened after the number of potholes being fixed by Wiltshire’s highways team spiralled to 14,000 a year for each of the past two years.
“At their first meeting on April 8, the task group agreed that they could achieve more by developing an understanding of the underlying causes of deterioration and the wider maintenance decisions made by the council, rather than considering potholes in isolation,” says the report.
“The task group therefore agreed that the title Highway Repair Task Group more accurately reflected the scope of the review than the previous working title Pothole Task Group.”
Since April, the task force has met with council officers and conducted a site visit to a depot to see the council’s two Bobcat machines.
The committee will be told that council previously had three Bobcats, but “there was not the volume of appropriate work to justify” the expense.
“On smaller rural roads, using the Bobcat necessitated a full road closure with attendant costs when a small fix could suffice,” says the report.
When the third Bobcat was launched in November last year, Cllr Martin Smith, the council’s cabinet member for highways, said: “Since April (2025), our Bobcat fleet has repaired more than five miles of road across 464 sites, delivering high-quality, permanent repairs to large sections of road at a time.
“With the addition of this third machine, we’re now able to expand our reach and make an even greater impact.
“The Bobcats have repaired roads in 128 parishes this year, across all of Wiltshire’s 18 Area Boards, helping to keep the county moving and making our roads safer for everyone.”
The report blames the deterioration of the county’s 2,800 miles of roads on a number of factors, including:
Its old roads, many of which predate motorised vehicles.
Underlying clay soil in the north and west of the county, which is more sensitive to moisture change.
Prolonged dry periods, heavy rainfall and freeze-thaw conditions.
And the rising weight of vehicles, including the increase in the number of SUVs and electric vehicles, which are heavier than petrol and diesel cars.
By Local Democracy Reporting Service, Peter Davison
