Council splashes out a million on JCBs

Powys County Council has splashed out nearly £1m on new JCB equipment, tractors and traffic lights as part of an initiative it says will save the tax payer money.

The investment will see a dozen traffic light and trailer units added to recent purchases of JCB mini-diggers, skid steer loaders, ride-on rollers, Ifor Williams trailers and Massey Ferguson tractors.

Cabinet Member for Highways, Councillor John Brunt explained: “The council has to find significant savings over the next three years so making the best use of capital funding to reduce day-to-day revenue spending, which is under considerable pressure, makes financial sense.

“In the past we have relied on hiring plant equipment to carry out highway works and this has not been a cost-effective use of our budget. By buying this equipment we are providing the right tools for our staff to carry out the work and improve our highway maintenance service and cutting costs.

“This is a positive spend-to-save initiative which will help the council meet its savings targets.”

The investment is part of the council’s plant and vehicle review project, which has been ongoing for the last 14 months. A detailed review of essential plant equipment and vehicle requirements, as well as the way the council carries out routine highway maintenance works, has taken place as part of the project.

Redundant plant equipment has been sold at auction with funds re-invested into the new assets machinery.

“The investment was carried out through a full tender process for the traffic lights and using a plant framework agreement for the JCB equipment and tractors. We did have initial issues with the mini-diggers and traffic lights being delivered not meeting our tender specifications as a result of an error by the suppliers. But, the problem was very quickly rectified at the supplier’s expense and did not compromise operations.

“The new equipment is already in service with the highways team and used for routine maintenance works including patching, sweeping, ditching and drainage works,” he added.