Agenda item

The Committee considered the joint report of the Assistant Chief Executive and Corporate Director of Neighbourhoods which provided members with an update on the Winter Maintenance Policy together with a presentation (for copy of report and presentation, see file of minutes).

J Reed, Head of Technical Services and B Buckley, Strategic Highways Manager were in attendance to provide Members with details of the service changes for 2015/16 and an overview of policy and operational service.

J Reed advised Members that the service changes and improvements were as follows:-

·       New Depot – Wolsingham salt barn which were better facilities and would improve resilience.

·       14 new replacement Gritting vehicles.

·       1 new Snow blower which was a multi-hog and could be used for patching and digging in finer months.

·       Renewed weather forecasting service.

·       Annual review of routes.

·       Extended season for High/Low Pennines.

·       Tracking system on all vehicles.

·       ICT/GIS potential ‘Go Live’ for public access to tracking/gritting service.

The weather stations could be viewed on the Council’s website and had live updates every 10 minutes.

B Buckley circulated a leaflet on the winter maintenance service to Members and advised that the winter maintenance policy was aligned with the national code of practice ‘Well-Maintained Highways’. He went on to advise members that it was not practical to treat all parts of the adopted highway and the policy prioritised adopted routes and details were provided of Carriageways Priority 1 (precautionary salting and post treatment), Carriageways Priority 2 (post treatment), Carriageways (snow Clearance), Carriageways (minimum winter network), Footways (snow clearance) and Cycleways (snow clearance).

The Council provided salt and grit bins for the public to use themselves based on a criteria, details of which were provided. Members of the public could request a salt bin assessment via Customer Services.

Members were provided with the following key facts and figures:-

·       Total length of carriageway                                        3,780 Kms

·       Percentage of Carriageway treated (priority 1)            45%

·       Total winter maintenance budget                                £5.4 m

·       Total salt stocks at start of winter                               42,000 tonnes

(this would cover best part of a severe winter)

·       Power Gritters (including contractors)                         37

·       Trailer Gritters (including contractors)                         33

·       Snowblowers                                                             6

·       Salt Bins                                                                   2,310

·       Priority 1 Pre-salting routes                                        38

·       Average cost per turn-out (Countywide)                      £28,000

·       Average salt usage per turn-out                                 250 tonnes

·       Average salt costs                                                     £27 per tonne

The Council worked in partnership with several town and parish councils. The public could help by clearing snow and ice from the pavement outside their homes. There had been some concern expressed that clearing snow/ice could lead to frontagers being prosecuted in the event of an accident.

Officers confirmed that legal advice was that this was unlikely provided that their actions were reasonable and did not make the situation worse from their actions.

Following the presentation, the Chairman thanked Officers for their very informative presentation and asked Members for questions.

Councillor E Bell sought clarification if salt was degradable. Officers responded that they needed to keep salt dry but it was not degradable.

Members referred to the salt bins in particular how the salt was being taken from the bins for commercial purposes.

Officers responded to say that any activity that was observed regarding the misuse/theft of salt for commercial gain should be reported to the Police or HAL. The public should not endanger themselves by confrontation but noting vehicle registrations would be helpful.

Officers also stated that the public demand for salt bins exceeded ability. The salt bins themselves were not expensive but the costs to maintain were high. They responded to service requests and used the council’s criteria to assess if a salt bin was required. They did offer a service to Members and parish councils of providing a dumpy bag of grit and salt at a cost of approximately £100 which included delivery to a location of their choice.

Councillor Holland sought clarification of the new weather forecaster and if they serviced other local authorities. He also sought clarification if there was a budget to repair damaged roads as a result of the bad weather.

Officers responded that the contract for the weather forecaster was Meteo Group which was an external service which went through the Council’s tendering process which was based on 70% quality and 30% price. Other local authorities also used the Meteo Group and the Council had used them for the past six years.

In relation to the damage to roads the Council had a budget for resurfacing and reserves were available for unexpected events. In 2012 when it was severe weather they received additional funding through reserves.

Councillor Clare referred to the circulated leaflet and sought clarification on his understanding of Priority 1 and Priority 2 roads on Newton Aycliffe Industrial estate as it was important that the roads on the estate were cleared.

Officers responded that it was not realistic to treat 100% of the adopted highway but the blue roads shown on the map were priority 1 and the orange roads were priority 2. 45% of the adopted highway was treated at priority 1 which was high so they were unable to have Newton Aycliffe estate cleared as they concentrated on strategic routes.

Councillor Clark referred to the partnership working arrangements and if these were reviewed on an annual basis. Officers responded that they weren’t reviewed last year but they would be reviewed to see if there were any changes.

The Council are the responsible highway authority and the Town/Parishes help deliver the policy and the Council provided the salt.

Councillor Stradling added that the Town and Parish Councils provide valuable assistance in delivering the winter service and an enhanced service where we would ordinarily be unable to provide with our own resources.

Officers recognised and acknowledged this valuable assistance.

Councillor Milburn requested that when the partnership working arrangements review had been carried out could this information be relayed to all members of the Council.

Members were advised that the Council provided salt/grit, equipment and training to parish councils who help to deliver Durham County Council Winter Maintenance Policies.

Officers advised that this information would be presented to the next Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Resolved: (i) That the report be noted.

(ii) That an update on the delivery of winter maintenance for 2015/16 and detail of winter maintenance plans for 2016/17 be provided to the committee at the July 2016 meeting.