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?

Where's the money going to come from from fancy new pavement gritters that might not be used for years, from my Council Tax?

Hey, where did you get the council tax from?

Hmm, maybe if the stocks of salt had been adequate in the first place.....

Oh hang on. Weren't we told that they were?

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.

someone in the council is responsible for foreseeing these things

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.

For those interested you can see where has been gritted by going here

Bad Weather Info

And clicking on Gritting, then clicking on the Excel spreadsheet.

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!

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.

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......

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.

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......

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.

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...)

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.

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.

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?