A BORDERS man says he gets a “deifie” when he challenges council members on the poor state of local roads.

Scott Watson now wants to know when Scottish Borders Council (SBC) plans to carry out repairs.

At a meeting of Peebles Community Council, Mr Watson said: “Let’s talk about roads and the lack of maintenance on them. We keep coming back to this topic and I’ve left it a couple of months since I last raised it.

“Potholes that have been filled on several occasions are still needing to be filled. When are the roads going to be repaired to the standard they should be? When are the white lines going to be replaced and cat’s eyes?

“These are questions I’ve raised several times and I seem to get, to put it politely, a deifie. Could the councillors please inform me and the rest of the committee when these will be done?”

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Asked if he had reported the potholes, Mr Watson replied: “I have done, and within a few months it’s back to the same condition. It must cost the council a fortune to do temporary repairs when a proper repair will last.”

Tweeddale East councillor Robin Tatler, an independent representative, asked Mr Watson to email him with a list of his concerns. Mr Tatler added: “The best repairs are complete resurfacing and I know we have a schedule of that. In terms of potholes, jetpatching is always better.”

Questioning the works undertaken by SBC to repair roads, Mr Watson said: “Two months ago you mentioned you had a relatively new jetpatcher and were hiring in another two – I’ve not seen them.”

Responding to this, Shona Haslam – a Conservative councillor for Tweeddale East – told the meeting that jetpatchers are deployed to B and C-roads but not on A-roads because this would require a closure.

Mr Watson asked the Tweeddale councillors when the roads will be repaired to an acceptable standard, and Mrs Haslam and Mr Tatler both said this would happen when SBC gets more money from the Scottish Government.

Mr Watson asked: “What about using some of the emergency budget rather than spending it on the tapestry building [in Galashiels]?”

Mrs Haslam replied: “We’re not answering that question, Scott.”

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But Mr Watson insisted these questions should be answered.

Mrs Haslam replied: “They do get answered, just not to your satisfaction.

"They get answered – it’s just not the answer you want, to be blunt.”

Community council chairman Les Turnbull said the roads are not of a standard that people expect.

He added: “I also take your point that you need the money from the Scottish Government and I’m assuming that you’re asking for it and it’s not coming.”

However, Mrs Haslam says that since the current council administration came in, major works have been undertaken.

She said: “Rosetta Road has been completely re-surfaced and this year we are also going to be re-surfacing the whole of Edinburgh Road. Dirtpot Corner was done and cost £11.5m and the road from Drumelzier to Moffat was completely resurfaced.

“We are doing a huge amount of work on the roads, but our budget has been cut by £1 billion over the last eight years."

Mrs Haslam added: "I accept the roads are not up to standard and I accept more has to be done, but we are ploughing every single spare penny we can into roads and upgrading roads, and you will start to see a difference, it’s just taking time.”