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Salt Routes, Where Is Gritted |
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Jan 5 2010, 05:55 PM
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QUOTE (TallDarkAndHandsome @ Jan 5 2010, 02:16 PM) I expect Mr Spray will go all quiet now or give use the 'unprecedented' or 'extreme' speech. Its Winter. Should we not expect it to be cold and snow? No, not this level of snow in a two week period. This is the worst snow for 20 years. Where's the money going to come from from fancy new pavement gritters that might not be used for years, from my Council Tax?
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Jan 5 2010, 06:22 PM
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QUOTE (Roost @ Jan 5 2010, 02:03 PM) Hmm, maybe if the stocks of salt had been adequate in the first place..... Oh hang on. Weren't we told that they were? The Met Office long term winter forcast was for a mild winter. Now, WBC could of course have decided to ignore the Met Office, & bought up huge amounts of rock salt, at our expense. What if the met office had been right? I can see the headlines & thread now 'WBC wastes tax payers cash on salt mountain'.....
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Jan 5 2010, 06:24 PM
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QUOTE (ropey @ Jan 5 2010, 03:39 PM) Rarely have felt such anger towards this local authority, during the days of the ice and snow, town centre footpaths were without doubt in an appaling condition even after around 3 days some were still treacherous. Only where the sun had managed to melt some of the ice did some of the paths become useable. Council spokesman Mr Spray is wrong in saying that town centre footpaths were done at Christmas, some were, but most were not. Councils are there to support infrastructure. I would hope that if the snow do arrive once agin tonight that WBC will prioritise not major routes which clear themselves but town footpaths, so that those people who decide to walk to work or to the shops can then at least expect to be able to walk safely. I sincerely hope that senior council officers and senior councillors get out of their offices and go and take a look at just how dangerous our footpaths have become.
There are several footpath gritting machines on the market ( just look on the internet of you are reading Highway officers and get your budget to afford one or two) which could tackle a town like newbury quite quickly. These type of expenses would never be treated as anything other than a wise investment even of they are only used for a couple of months per year. Do what? waste cash on machines that will remain idle year in year out?
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Jan 5 2010, 07:29 PM
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QUOTE (Strafin @ Jan 5 2010, 07:18 PM) someone in the council is responsible for foreseeing these things Presumably by taking advice from the experts at the Met Office? Or perhaps by pinning up a piece of seaweed - much more reliable.
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Jan 5 2010, 07:49 PM
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QUOTE (Strafin @ Jan 5 2010, 07:18 PM) It's nothing more than incompetence. We went through all this last year, someone in the council is responsible for foreseeing these things and taking the necessary steps. I don't expect every bit of tarmac to be gritted, but I do expect the primary routes to be and then if needs be, done again. You don't half make up some rubbish! We didn't go through the worst snow for 20 years, last year. If you'd bothered to look you can see that the routes were gritted today. Crying wolf like this just spoils it for everyone else when there is a real problem.
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Jan 5 2010, 07:57 PM
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No win situation for the council sadly. Perhaps it would be best if they ignored the whining idiots at the NWN and spent the money as they felt appropriate, we might not have these problems then. ~~ QUOTE (user23 @ Jan 5 2010, 06:20 PM) For those interested you can see where has been gritted by going here Bad Weather InfoAnd clicking on Gritting, then clicking on the Excel spreadsheet. Very interesting thanks! ~~ QUOTE While I don't doubt that the routes were gritted, I haven't personally seen a gritter out and about and I spend quite a lot of time on the road! Perhaps you could ring the council up so that the gritting crew(s) can let you know when and where they are, that way you can follow them around. I mean seriously... I don't see a policecar most days I drive, but that doesn't mean they're not driving about somewhere.
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Jan 5 2010, 08:00 PM
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QUOTE (user23 @ Jan 5 2010, 07:49 PM) You don't half make up some rubbish! We didn't go through the worst snow for 20 years, last year.
If you'd bothered to look you can see that the routes were gritted today.
Crying wolf like this just spoils it for everyone else when there is a real problem. We had more snow than this in February 2008. I have looked, can't see any grit and WBC have issued a statement about not having enough salt. By pointing out how inept WBC are in a crisis, how am I crying wolf? The snow is there for all to see. The gritters aren't.
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Jan 5 2010, 08:00 PM
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QUOTE (Roost @ Jan 5 2010, 07:55 PM) While I don't doubt that the routes were gritted, I haven't personally seen a gritter out and about and I spend quite a lot of time on the road!
As to 'worst snow / ice for 20 years', I and others aren't disputing that. What I'm disputing is that fact that we were reassured (by the council) that the council had adequate supplies to cope with the bad weather!
I notice that they (and many other local councils) were all over the press recently, right up until they suddenly decided that maybe they didn't have enough resources...... They probably did have enough supplies to deal with a normal winter. You seem to be implying that every council should have enough resources kept back to deal with the current situation. Fair enough but shouldn't they then also have the appropriate resources to deal with the worst flooding for 20 years? What about the worst drought for 20 years should it happen this summer? If so, who's going to pay for all this? QUOTE (Strafin @ Jan 5 2010, 08:00 PM) We had more snow than this in February 2008. I have looked, can't see any grit and WBC have issued a statement about not having enough salt. By pointing out how inept WBC are in a crisis, how am I crying wolf? The snow is there for all to see. The gritters aren't. Sorry Strafin, 2008 was in the last 20 years therefore the current conditions are worse, you're just making things up again. You seemed to have missed the announcement about the delivery of grit that they had too.
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Jan 5 2010, 08:03 PM
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QUOTE (Roost @ Jan 5 2010, 07:55 PM) While I don't doubt that the routes were gritted, I haven't personally seen a gritter out and about and I spend quite a lot of time on the road!
As to 'worst snow / ice for 20 years', I and others aren't disputing that. What I'm disputing is that fact that we were reassured (by the council) that the council had adequate supplies to cope with the bad weather!
I notice that they (and many other local councils) were all over the press recently, right up until they suddenly decided that maybe they didn't have enough resources...... They probably did have enough supplies to deal with a normal winter. You seem to be implying that every council should have enough resources kept back to deal with the current situation. Fair enough but shouldn't they then also have the appropriate resources to deal with the worst flooding for 20 years? What about the worst drought for 20 years should it happen this summer? If so, who's going to pay for all this? QUOTE (Strafin @ Jan 5 2010, 08:00 PM) We had more snow than this in February 2008. I have looked, can't see any grit and WBC have issued a statement about not having enough salt. By pointing out how inept WBC are in a crisis, how am I crying wolf? The snow is there for all to see. The gritters aren't. No we didn't, 2008 was in the last 20 years and the met office are saying this is the worst we've had in this time. Once again you're making things up. You seem to have missed the announcement about the new delivery of grit too, so yes you're crying wolf. My advice, read up on the facts and listen to the radio before you post on here again.
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Jan 5 2010, 08:11 PM
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QUOTE (TallDarkAndHandsome @ Jan 5 2010, 11:40 AM) If we are to take Global warming seriously then we need to have more grit and salt as the Winters will be colder and more Continental (if you believe in Climate change...) Perhaps we drivers should take on more responsibilty if that's the case and ACT like the Continentals then.. That means investing in proper winter tyres rather then relying on the slicks that a great majority of drivers use. QUOTE (ropey @ Jan 5 2010, 03:39 PM) Rarely have felt such anger towards this local authority, during the days of the ice and snow, town centre footpaths were without doubt in an appaling condition even after around 3 days some were still treacherous. Let's all join hands and fight Mother Nature.......
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Jan 5 2010, 08:13 PM
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QUOTE (spartacus @ Jan 5 2010, 08:11 PM) Perhaps we drivers should take on more responsibilty if that's the case and ACT like the Continentals then.. That means investing in proper winter tyres rather then relying on the slicks that a great majority of drivers use. I'd agree with that. If we're going to get colder winters it should be made law that we should have winter tyres fitted, just like in Scandinavian countries.
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Jan 5 2010, 08:15 PM
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QUOTE (spartacus @ Jan 5 2010, 08:11 PM) That means investing in proper winter tyres I've seen a similar post on these boards - was it you? What normal motorist is going to have the facility to change their tyres according to the season?
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Jan 5 2010, 08:19 PM
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QUOTE (JeffG @ Jan 5 2010, 08:15 PM) I've seen a similar post on these boards - was it you? What normal motorist is going to have the facility to change their tyres according to the season? Seems to work OK on the continent European Tyre Laws
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