Council to review gritting performance

Rochdale Borough Council Snow Plough/Gritter at work on the Borough's roads.

Rochdale Council plans to review its performance in gritting the borough's roads and pavements once the snow has melted and conditions on the roads return to normal.

The Council has faced criticism and anger from residents and motorists during the current cold snap for what they believe to have been a poor performance in making roads safe.

A spokesperson for the Council said: "We intend to undertake a review once conditions are back to normal, and this review will report into the relevant council committees for scrutiny.

"The council recognises that many residents feel the service received during the three weeks of snow and freezing temperatures so far has been poorer than they expected.

"The weather conditions have been far worse than was predicted and we have worked hard to keep disruption to a minimum. 

"Like most council areas we have to prioritise what we can and can’t do based on the available resource and current need.

"It is really important to note that the snowfall seen in the borough in the last three weeks is far worse than it has been at any point in recent years.

"Our teams have been working very hard to do the best that they can over a continued period of extreme weather over recent weeks – many of them during unsociable hours and without days off or holiday.

"The severity of the snow and condition is at present the worst in at least a decade so needs to be taken in context. We understand the inconvenience that this weather causes to individuals and businesses across the borough and would like to assure people that we are doing what we can to help minimise disruption."

Meanwhile, with the severe weather set to continue beyond the weekend, grit remains in short supply. The Council says that it has enough to last until tomorrow night (Wednesday 6 January). At 12noon today they had around 300 tonnes of grit, having used around 200-250 tonnes in the last 24 hours.

The Council has ordered another 1000 tonnes of grit from its supplier and is expecting delivery this week. They received a delivery this morning of 28 tonnes, with the supplier taking six hours to get to Rochdale from Cheshire.

The Council aims to keep the main arterial and main bus routes open as a priority, with lower priority roads gritted once higher priority routes have been done, and depending on the grit stocks.

Pavements are not routinely gritted. Some will get a splattering of grit from the gritting wagons but it isn’t as effective as it’s not driven into the surface by vehicles.

Where grit stocks allow, pavements in areas of high footfall will be gritted today (Tuesday) by highways operatives as well as council staff from waste collection, street services and grounds maintenance teams who aren’t undertaking their normal duties because of the weather.