Southport Liberal Democrats
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Report following meeting between councillors and officers on 29 December 2010 and recommendations
Empty folderReport following meeting between councillors and officers on 29 December 2010 and recommendations
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<!--[endif]-->1. In terms of the response to priority pavement locations (e.g. Chapel Street and Lord Street, Southport) the Council failed to act as it should have done, and as the public and local businesses have a right to expect. For example, in relation to Chapel Street, there is a widespread belief that the first (significant) attention by council staff in terms of trying to clear ice (compacted snow) was not until Friday 24 December.
Section 2.5 of Sefton Council's Winter Service Policy states: "In the event of cleansing operations being suspended due to adverse weather conditions and when accumulations of lying snow or ice on the footway are deemed to be sufficiently excessive as to cause a potential obstruction to the free passage of the highway user, liaison between Network Management and Cleansing Services will take place and available resources will be co-ordinated and targeted at the priority locations identified in Appendix D. A schedule of cleared areas will be kept on file."
We consider that the required liaison was inadequate.It is important that the liaison between Network Management and other council departments is extended to make maximum use of available resources including staff and equipment from Council Departments other than Cleansing (e.g. from Leisure Services). See also 13. below.
2. Only limited snow ploughing was carried out, however it should be noted that this was in accordance with the Sefton Council Winter Service Policy. Section 2.6 of the Policy states: "When accumulations of lying snow on the carriageway are deemed to be sufficiently excessive as to cause a potential obstruction to the free passage of the highway user, snow ploughing will be undertaken in addition to the gritting operation but only at locations where it is safe to do so. This is likely to be locations such as dual carriageways where lying snow could safely be ploughed onto a central reservation. Where the operation is possible, resources will be targeted in order of the hierarchy as identified in Section 2.1. No ploughing will be undertaken at any location that does not form part of the gritting route."
Section 2.7 of the Policy states: "When conditions exist of extensive lying snow, snow ploughing will be considered by the duty officer. Many of the locations included on the gritting routes are not suitable for ploughing as such an operation would leave the highway in a dangerous state due to the position of the ploughed snow. Ploughing will therefore only be undertaken where it is safe to do so.3. Extensive snow ploughing on gritting routes within residential areas in the first 24 hours would likely have resulted in much improved road conditions. However we recognise that there are difficulties with this. These include:
(i) Risk of damage to parked cars
(ii) Parked cars causing operational difficulties to wagon drivers
(iii) Ploughed snow would cause significant difficulties to drivers of parked cars in subsequently trying to drive those cars away
(iv) Householders with driveways on the snow ploughing route would need to clear away a significant wall of snow in order to exit their drives post-ploughing
(v) Ploughing on the existing gritting routes will, for the most part, only clear one side of the carriageway
Our view is that the pros and cons of much more extensive snow ploughing on some or all of the gritting routes within residential areas should be thoroughly examined with specific consideration being given to key traffic routes. This should take account of experience within more affected areas of the UK such as Scotland, and in foreign countries, such as Canada and Scandinavian countries.
4. If more extensive snow ploughing within residential areas were considered to be appropriate, then a thorough review of gritting routes would be required. This is because most roads on the gritting routes are traversed in one direction only (with grit being distributed onto both sides of the carriageway at the same time). In order to properly snow plough a road, it is necessary to traverse it in both directions.
5. Even if more extensive snow ploughing within residential areas were not considered to be appropriate, we feel that a review should be undertaken to identify (mainly) non-residential roads where snow ploughing could be used, and planned for. These would be beyond the "locations such as dual carriageways" referred to in Section 2.6 of Sefton Council's Winter Service Policy. In Southport, such roads might well include some or all of:
(i) Coastal Road/Marine Drive
(ii) Seaward end of Shore Road
(iii) Seaward end of Weld Road
(iv) Esplanade/Victoria Way (roads near Dunes)
(v) Marine Parade and Bridge
(vi) Fairways (subject to agreement by the two commercial premises on the W side of Fairways)
(vii) Seaward end of Hesketh Road
(viii) Seaward end of Marshside Road
(ix) Promenade (both sides of carriageway to be ploughed from S to N so that all snow is deposited to seaward side)(x) Benthams Way
It should be noted that virtually all bridges could probably be snow ploughed, as the presence of embankments means that are very few houses fronting onto a bridge.
6. The Council must improve its Emergency Incident procedures. This is particularly the case where very severe weather conditions occur (as here) at the start of a weekend.
7. We found no evidence to support the accusation that Sefton Council had purchased insufficient rock salt. Figures obtained under Freedom of Information Act by the TaxPayers Alliance create a completely false impression. In this winter to date, Sefton Council has had perfectly adequate stocks of rock salt to carry out as much gritting as it needed.8. Questions have been raised about the gritting lorries not delivering grit as appropriate. Officers confirmed that the filled gritting lorries are weighed before they begin their route and weighed when they return. Also all lorries are fitted with a GPS tracking system to ensure that the designated routes are followed.
9. The reason why the carriageways remained in such an unacceptable condition for such a long time was because of the large amount of snow which fell in Southport, Formby, Maghull and parts of Crosby, followed by an extended period of substantially below zero temperatures. Application of large amounts of rock salt on a frequent basis had little effect on the snow, which soon turned to compacted snow/ice. The only thing which we believe would have had an impact is the early (i.e. before road traffic had compacted the fallen snow) physical removal of as much of the snow as possible from (at minimum) the central parts of the carriageway. Refer to 3. above.
10. One minor recommendation in relation to the snow ploughing which was undertaken on the A565 (Formby bypass) and A59 (Maghull) dual carriageways (i.e. in accordance with Section 2.6 of the Sefton Council Winter Service Policy): if possible, both lanes should be ploughed around roundabouts and in the approaches to them. This obviously could not be achieved in a single pass by a snow plough-equipped gritter.
11. We noted that there are 3 demountable snow ploughs attachments for 8 gritters (or 10, including the 2 spare vehicles). We noted that the cost of additional show plough attachments was not excessive and we consider that the Council should urgently consider purchasing (at least) 2 more. If the funding could not be found elsewhere, we felt sure that Southport (and other) Area Committees would be willing to fund one of these.
12. The Council's Winter Service Policy should be revised so as to specify enhanced levels of attention to situations such as:
(i) Bridges (note comment at the end of 5. above)
(ii) Inclines
(iii) Roundabouts
(iv) (Possibly) Major junctions generally13. We understand that the parking attendant contract is due for renewal shortly. We suggest that the terms of the contract be reviewed to establish whether parking attendants might be an additional resource which could be deployed to assist with snow and ice clearing at times of extreme weather conditions (when, in part or whole, they are unlikely to be able to carry out their normal duties).
Similarly, we suggest that the Council reviews its own contracts of employment for relevant staff (primarily in Cleansing Services and Leisure Services) to ensure that they permit the widest possible deployment to assist with snow and ice clearing when needed.14. We believe that the use of JCB diggers to remove snow in those residential roads which had been considered unsuitable for snow ploughing to have had a positive impact on the road conditions in these areas. We are concerned that this deployment was delayed unnecessarily and would have had a greater impact had it been started earlier in the week. We understand that the use of JCB diggers is under review since there is the possibility that their use may have caused damage to the carriageway surface.15. Of nearly 60 Grit Bins in Sefton, approximately 18 are located in Southport. We consider that a thorough review should be conducted to ensure that Grit Bins are provided at all appropriate locations.16. We were concerned to ensure that the Council provided support for vulnerable people in severe weather conditions such as were experienced in late December 2010.Officers have confirmed that the Council has a Winter Plan which is operated in partnership with the Primary Care Trust. This plan ensures that support is provided when any vulnerable patient is discharged from hospital. During the Christmas period 70% of hospital social workers remain on the duty roster. In addition any person who is known to Sefton Council's Social Services Department was telephoned to check on them. In addition, Sefton Council worked with the Voluntary Sector to provide support to people who were unknown to them and who would not normally meet the criteria for Social Service intervention.We were reassured that the Council had implemented an action plan. However we did consider that the Council could have done more to publicise the support available.Attendance at meeting 29 December 2010:Cllr Simon Shaw (Birkdale Ward) Mr Peter Moore (Director, EnvironmentCllr Terry Jones (Ainsdale Ward) & Technical Services)Cllr Sue McGuire (Cambridge Ward) Mr Jerry McConkey (Network Manager,Cllr David Pearson (Dukes Ward) Technical Services)Cllr Mike Booth (Kew Ward) Mr Dan Grice (CorporateCllr David Rimmer (Meols Ward) Communications)Cllr Tony Robertson (Molyneux Ward)
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