North Yorkshire County Council looks set to reduce its precautionary winter salt spreading to minimum levels set out in national guidelines.
A report before the county council reveals lowering the minimum salting spread rate to 8g per square metre could save the authority a further £75,000 during a “normal season”.
In recent years the council has faced calls to review its gritting policies amid claims that a lack of action has seen parts of the county suffer gridlock,
The proposed move follows the authority cutting the amount of salt it spread on the county’s 6,000 miles of roads last winter with the ambition of saving £195,000 of taxpayers money a year.
Under the Highways Act 1980, councils have a duty to ensure within reason that safe passage along roads is not endangered by snow or ice, while the Traffic Management Act 2004 requires authorities to do all that is reasonably practicable to manage the network effectively to keep traffic moving.
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The Local Government Association says with the salt and grit mix costing up to £40 per tonne, this duty can weigh heavily on councils, particularly when there are long, cold winters.
National guidance states authorities must determine their own spread rates that are appropriate for use on their own networks.
‘No negative impacts last winter’
The officer’s report states the further proposed cut follows the experience of last winter’s partially reduced spread rates, along with greater confidence in gritter accuracy, coupled with the recent £2.2 million purchase by North Yorkshire Highways of 18 new gritters.
It states:
“As no negative impacts were observed or detected, we now propose to reduce the spread rates further in line with the national guidance.
“Whilst any definite cost saving is impossible to predict as it will depend on the prevailing weather conditions, it is expected that these reductions will save around £75k during a normal season.”
Cllr Stuart Parsons, leader of the authority’s Independent group, said residents “paid through the nose for the county council’s services”, so they should be able to expect some returns.
He questioned whether North Yorkshire’s geography would make it suitable for the national minimum salting levels.
Cllr Parsons said:
Council to reject 42 requests for extra gritting despite warnings“It is fine if you are looking at some of the home counties that are basically flat to go down to the national minimum level, but when you’ve got hill after hill, bend after bend, mile after mile of winding roads with little to no treatment on them they are going to bring the whole of the rural economy to a grinding stop.
“The last people they seem concerned about are the residents, who they now call customers.”
More than 40 requests for extra gritting on North Yorkshire’s huge roads network are set to be rejected despite warnings over “dangerous” conditions and salt bins running empty.
North Yorkshire County Council, which spends about £7m every winter to treat more than half of the county’s 5,753 miles of roads, considers requests for routes to be added or given greater priority on an annual basis.
This year it has received 42 requests from residents, councillors and businesses, but none have been recommended for approval at a meeting on Friday.
These include 14 requests in the Harrogate district, 15 in Richmondshire, seven in Craven and six in Hambleton.
Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, said the authority already treated a large proportion of roads and that routes are rarely added due to the time and costs involved.
However, he added safety and efficiency were always priorities when deciding how to use resources.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:
“An efficient winter gritting service is one of our top priorities.
“We are in a part of the country with some very remote and exposed roads, but we still have got to make sure people can go about their daily lives safely in bad weather conditions.
“We have not often made changes simply because we already treat a bigger proportion of our highways network in a routine winter than any other local authority.
“And of course, we do have to prioritise in order to keep the main roads and bus routes open in periods of bad weather.”
Motorways and trunk roads are the responsibility of Highways England, while the county council looks after all other routes.
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The county council is also responsible for treating pedestrian footpaths and aims to cover all busy shopping areas and main footpaths before 9am in severe weather.
Between October 1 and April 30, road gritters are on call 24 hours a day, while farmer contractors, duty managers and overnight patrols are all on standby when necessary.
Roads are treated with rock salt on a priority basis and where icy and snowy conditions are at their worst.
But some residents believe more roads should be added or given greater priority, with one resident describing Regent Road in Skipton as “dangerous” during bad weather conditions.
They said in a request:
“Regent residents wishing to travel to work are faced with a hazardous task. I would imagine some people will be genuinely fearful for their safety.”
Another resident said salt bins in Harrogate are often running empty, while another claimed cars were abandoned on Kent Road in the town last year due to a lack of gritting.
Councillor Mackenzie added:
Gritting services to return to council control by next winter“We will always look very carefully at requests, especially if there are concerns about safety on busy routes or travel to school.
“But generally speaking, officers will recommend rejection of a request if there are perfectly good alternative routes for a person to get from A to B safely under the current gritting routes.”
Gritting and plouging services across the Harrogate district will be taken over by a new organisation from next winter.
NY Highways Ltd, a company set up and run by North Yorkshire County Council, is set to begin operations this summer and will be running gritting services from then on.
In recent years, highways services including gritting have been sub-contracted to Ringway, with a contract value of £40 million. Instead, by next winter NYCC will directly control the work through its new local authority trading company or ‘Teckal’, with a revenue budget of £20m, a capital budget of £35m, and an expected turnover of £60m.
Cllr Don Mackenzie, NYCC executive member for access, said:
“Having our own company gives us greater control and flexibility over our highways service delivery, while removing the contractual constraints that exist with the current arrangements.
“Through more direct accountability for the works on the ground we aim to deliver a ‘right first time’ service with the customer continuing to be at the heart of everything that we do.
“A very large proportion of the highways team live in North Yorkshire, they are passionate about their communities and take pride in delivering services which are used by their own friends and families. We believe the new company will ensure that we get the maximum benefit from that local pride and passion.”
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The news has been welcomed by Pateley Bridge Town Council, which has issued a letter about the arrangements for winter gritting and ploughing after residents raised concerns.
The Mayor of Pateley Bridge, Cllr Mike Holt, explained NYCC’s role and priorities in bad weather, and said he hoped the changes over the summer would bring improvements by next winter.
Appeal for patience as council refills grit bins“At the moment NYCC subcontract all this work and much more to outside contractors but later this year, after many years they are bringing these services back in house.
“This should mean a more efficient cost-effective service and also through local knowledge, potentially a different set of priorities, concentrating on the worse affected areas instead of just following a scheduled programme.
“Certainly when the changes occur, you can be assured that Pateley Bridge Town Council will be monitoring the situation.”
North Yorkshire County Council has today appealed for patience as it refills grit bins following the recent prolonged period of snow and ice.
The Stray Ferret received several complaints from residents over the weekend, who said untreated pavements in the Harrogate district were too treacherous for pedestrians, forcing people to walk on roads.
Gritting is the county council’s responsibility and besides employing gritters it maintains more than 3,000 self-help grit bins in North Yorkshire.
People can use the bins to grit minor roads and pavements but not private drives.
Stocks are replenished midwinter and in response to requests.
The long post-Christmas cold snap has led to higher demand than usual and the council’s highways department has urged residents to use salt sparingly.
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County Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said:
“I would like to reassure residents that we are currently refilling grit bins and heaps as quickly as we can. This process is a huge task as we have responsibility for more than 3,100 grit bins and 4,700 grit heaps.
“Please bear in mind that those involved in replenishing the bins and heaps are the same people that drive the gritters and deal with other emergencies on the highway network.
“Whilst every effort is made to replenish the grit as soon as possible we do encounter unavoidable delays, which can occur during prolonged or repeated periods of very cold weather.”
Wet weather is forecast for the next few days but the forecast is to turn colder by Friday, with further icy spells.
Bus company steps up to help clear snowy roads
Key workers have been proving their worth every day in the pandemic – and some did so in spades again today.
Members of staff at The Harrogate Bus Company took to the roads with shovels and grit to help keep drivers moving.
When heavy snow fell for most of the day, major routes came to a standstill, leaving drivers stranded and holding up bus services. So, suspending services in the face of poor conditions, drivers, engineers, cleaners and even directors got to work in a new way.
A member of Harrogate Bus Company staff clears the road
Operations director Vitto Pizzuti said:
“Our team has really pulled together, to try and help around the town on a difficult day. The weather looks to have caught a lot of people by surprise, so we’ve been out gritting roads, getting stuck cars moving again, and doing what we can to help.
“The generosity of others has been really welcome too – like the team in Sainsbury’s in Knaresborough bringing hot drinks to our drivers waiting in the bus station.
“We’re hoping to have buses running normally again very soon, thanks to the effort of our colleagues.”
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