The current weather is extreme and I have no particluar issues. However, the slight downfall on 22nd December was something else - a minor fall that we should have been capable of delaing with. Here is my note to the Local Government Association on 22nd December and their reply:
"I see the LGA is defending its incompetent, self serving, smug (Council) members who have catastrophically failed everyone with their handling of the weather crisis. They were warned about the snow and the gritters were not out there early enough by at least 3 hours.
As usual Council staff are sat on their butts doing the absolute minimum apart from working hard to justify their own jobs (sack 50% of the so- called managers would be a good start in rebuilding finances)and were probably penny pinching on the gritting to spend on salaries of the umpteen useless advisers and nanny state goons that populate your profession.
A public enquiry needs to be made in some areas to find out exactly why roads were not gritted and see some heads roll."
Reply from LGA
"Thank you for your email regarding the winter gritting issues that have affected the country. My understanding is that far from being 'sat on their butts doing the absolute minimum, councils in affected areas of the country have been working round the clock to try and keep the roads open.
On a national basis the LGA estimates that around 4,000 people have been out round the clock working to keep the roads clear and have used around 160,000 tonnes of salt to cover the equivalent of 1,000,000 miles of road. While we do not pretend everything went perfectly we do believe that as much was done as possible to help people get to and from destinations. The balance is a fine one for each and every council. While each needs to maintain stocks of salt and grit to keep roads open there is also a huge financial cost to keeping stores of both. The cost of the land, the manpower, the vehicles, the buildings and the salt (of which 10% vanishes due to humidity during the summer) all mean that tough decisions have to be taken between getting the right amount of grit and salt for a rare event while keeping the cost to the taxpayer down. In 2008/09, councils across the country spent around £185million on winter weather equipment and any any extra investment will cost the council taxpayer more.
Local Government Association"
Following this I have written to my local Council:
"
The people of Bracknell are entitled to answers to a few simple questions and I would advocate that such questions are answered by an independent inquiry to see exactly what was or was not done and the critical issue of timing in relation thereto.
1. At what time were the gritters mobilised on the 22nd December 2009?
2. How many gritters does BFBC have – directly owned and on contract on the day in question? Were any additional gritters obtained from other sources during the day in question?
3. What were the routes they attended first and at what time?
4. Where is the base/depot for the salt and where are the gritters stationed if different?
5. What was the stock of grit on the morning of 22nd December and what deliveries were made during the day?
6. Please provide a copy of the procedural manual for the gritting service and the chain of command
7. Of the 500 tonnes (this number in itself means nothing but probably impresses some) how much was delivered on each day – do you have such records?
8. Given the number of days from 17th December to 23rd December – the average is around 80 to 90 tonnes.
9. Please advise number of miles of routes of different categories and how you assess priority – eg miles of bus routes, miles of A and B roads
10. How many drivers and supervisors did you have available on the day in question?
I think most gritter lorries hold 10 tonnes – is this correct for BFBC vehicles.
The answers to the above will be a start and from there we can hopefully get to the bottom of the shambles that occurred.
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Topic: Was I too harsh or spot on? (Read 1703 times)