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14
Jan
Council to review response to snow and ice in Harrogate
North Yorkshire Council is set to review its own performance of its response to recent heavy snowfall and icy conditions.
The council was heavily criticised last week after pavements and minor roads in the Harrogate district were left in treacherous conditions after temperatures plummeted to lows of minus 12 degrees.
Karl Battersby, corporate director for environment at the council, confirmed at a Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce meeting that it would evaluate its response to the adverse weather.
Mr Battersby told business owners that he was aware of concerns over access to businesses, treacherous pavements and minor roads which had not been gritted.
He said:
I did not want to stand here tonight and give you a load of excuses. What I wanted to explain was a bit of the context and to acknowledge that we know it has not been ideal.
Whenever we have an event like this we do a review. We are due to do that on the 21st to look at how we responded, lessons learned and what we might do differently.
Mr Battersby said the council spends £7 million on average each year tackling adverse weather events such as floods, storms and heavy snowfall.
He added that hundreds of staff and contractors worked to attempt to grit icy roads and footpaths last week.
NY Highways, the council-owned company which looks after the county’s road network, had 250 staff responding to conditions on the roads.
One hundred farming contractors worked with the council to grit roads, Mr Battersby added.
The council also drafted in extra manpower from its waste and parks teams to treat footpaths affected in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon.
Ice on Montpellier Hill.
However, the authority faced criticism over its response, including taking four days to clear ice on key shopping routes such as Cambridge Street in Harrogate.
Some residents told the Stray Ferret that the conditions in the town centre were “absolutely lethal” and were putting people at risk.
Meanwhile, Harrogate District Hospital reported an increase in the number of ice-related injuries during last week.
A campaign to bring back salt bins for all local communities in the district was also launched amid concern over how frequently the facilities are refilled.
Last night, Mr Battersby was asked how the council would approach the conditions differently in the future.
He told business owners that the authority would look at allocate additional resources for gritting in the town centre.
He said:
We are looking to put some more dedicated resource into the town centre, particularly in terms of having more specialised kit rather than just relying on the teams hand-gritting.
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