Wagga councillors are set to vote on whether to trial a piece of machinery that could put the city on a path to more-timely road repairs and fewer potholes. Councillor Richard Foley, who has been vocal about the state of Wagga's roads since he was elected in 2021, has pushed for a trial of the JCB Pothole Pro - a piece of machinery he said would improve the road repair process. The Pothole Pro cuts a square around an existing pothole, and cleans out any debris left behind. When operating in ideal conditions, it can perform these tasks faster and more accurately than human hands. The flat base and sides it creates for the hole theoretically make patches longer lasting by leaving fewer weak points. Cr Foley's colleagues unanimously supported his push to test out the machine by endorsing a report into the all-in-one pothole fixer at the September council meeting. The report will be tabled at Monday night's council meeting, when councillors will vote on whether to proceed with a one-week trial of the machine. Cr Foley said he was sick of looking at holes in the road. "I'm not saying it [the JCB Pothole Pro] is going to be the be-all and end-all, but what we have to do is increase production so more potholes are being repaired and the public is getting their roads in a better state," he said. "The current situation they've got is doing a reasonable job, but there's still many, many more potholes to fix. "I want to have a physical trial in the city and invite fellow councils from around the region, councillors, general managers, or whoever, to have a look and see what they think." However, the council's staff are sceptical the machine will make road repairs more efficient. In his report to councillors, the council's director of infrastructure services, Warren Falkner, said the Pothole Pro may not be suitable for Wagga's roads. Mr Faulkner said because the machine was designed to work on semi-rigid roads, it was ideally suited to only 2 per cent of Wagga's road network. "The machine is ideally suited for use with semi-rigid (bound and stabilised or deep lift asphalt) and rigid (concrete) pavements. This is because a firm and stable base will be left in the bottom of the square patch once it has been milled and clean out," he said. "The data shows that only 6.5km of the Wagga Wagga road network is semi-rigid pavement, these pavements mainly being along Pearson/Dobney Street, Lake Albert Road and Kooringal Road." The council workers and contractors engaged in road fixes are expected to repair holes using "best practice", following a council motion on November 21 last year. Mr Faulkner said a direct comparison between the skid steer loader currently in use and the Pothole Pro suggested the proposed new machine may not be cheaper, or more efficient. He said the other costs - like traffic control, profiling machine and labour - would remain the same. "The trial of the JCB Pothole Pro is just a direct comparison of it to the skid steer loader and attachments set-up. All the other resources, including a tipper truck, are still required," Mr Falkner said. However, Cr Foley labelled the claims of the machine's limited benefit as "rubbish". "We're talking about cutting a square hole out of a road, no matter what kind of road it is," he said. "The problem with being a councillor, I'm finding, is as soon as you make suggestions in some of these areas you're then deemed to be interfering with operations. "All I want to know is can it cut a square hole out of a road, cut it quickly, clean it and get it ready for a team to fill." There are two JCB Pothole Pros in Australia, both of which are owned by Roadworx Industries. Council staff have proposed a one-week hire and trial period, costing $14,491. If councillors vote in favour of the move, they would then receive a report following the demonstration that evaluates the machine against the council's current pothole filling and repair practices. The report to councillors said an email had been sent to neighbouring councils to gauge interest in being part of the trial. An update on the level of interest will be provided to councillors prior to Monday night's meeting.