Winter Service Provision of Grit Bins

AGENDA ITEM 5

BOROUGH OF POOLE

TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY GROUP – 31 MARCH 2011

REPORT OF HEAD OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

WINTER SERVICE – PROVISION OF GRIT BINS

1.  MATTER FOR CONSIDERATION AND POLICY CONTEXT

1.1  To consider a motion referred to this Group asking that consideration be given to the Council’s provision of grit bins following the exceptionally cold and icy weather conditions during the latter part of 2010.

1.2  The provision of grit bins is part of the overall Winter Service policy which is reviewed annually subsequent to the conclusion of the winter season and prior to proposals for the next winter being reported to this Group. The TAG of 16 September 2010 considered and approved the Winter Service policy for 2010/11.

2  DECISION REQUIRED

It is recommended that the Portfolio Holder notes the concerns of the petitioners, including the request to review the number and location of grit bins, and approves:

2.2 the opportunity that will be given for all members to have an input into the review of the grit/salt supply for public use on the highway as part of the winter maintenance provision review, against a background of no overall increase in budget provision

2.3 that the outcome of this review will be included in the Winter Service proposals for 2011/12 which will be considered by this Group in the autumn.

3  BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND OPTIONS

3.1 The following motion was referred to this Group by the 13 January 2011 Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

“Council notes with concern the apparently increasing severity of our winters and the increased likelihood of snow and ice. Council notes that many of our residents are happy to clear their own stretches of pavement and road and wishes to thank them for this. Council resolves to assist local residents in this by conducting a full audit of grit bin locations throughout the Borough and greatly increasing the number of grit bins situated on residential streets, particularly in locations with steep hills. Council further resolves to ensure grit bins are kept well stocked throughout the winter period.”

Signed: Councillor Eades, Miss Wilson, Maiden, Wilson, Mrs Clements, Brooke, Matthews and Mrs Moore.

3.2 The Borough’s Winter Service is part of the highway maintenance function and, in line with the Code of Good Practice (Well Maintained Highways), is reviewed annually. It covers the considerations taken into account and the actions taken to address the adverse effects of winter weather on the highway network. The objectives are to reasonably maintain the safety of users, the availability of the network and the integrity of the highway surface from the adverse affects of ice or snow.

3.3 The winter service report approved by this Group on 16 September 2010 identified the key actions in the policy. This included:

(a) the use of gritters to routinely treat the busiest parts of the network’s carriageways,

(b) a general policy of not pre-treating footways and cycleways

(c) the availability of grit bins to assist with self help at previously identified specific locations not on gritting routes. There are 37 bins located around the Borough, and while in the previous winter there had undoubtedly been a number of requests for further bins these were generally from single residents. As this was the worst winter for 30 years this was deemed to be insufficient justification to readily provide these extra bins.

3.4 The prolonged periods of very cold and icy weather at the end of November and just before Christmas last year resulted in the non-priority routes (approx. 70% of the network) and all footways being icy for many days without any prospect of clearance. During this period the Council received many hundreds of requests for additional gritting and for additional grit bins.

3.5 Such expectations were clearly beyond the financial and physical resources available. While resources were mobilised to address some of the priorities, this was a huge financial drain with only limited impact on the overall situation. The gap between public expectation and our affordable response capability is wide.

3.6 Besides the many hundreds of requests for the Borough to grit additional roads and/or footways, there were also many requests for additional grit bins. Such widespread extra provision could not be readily met but sacks of grit were distributed to many of the locations. The government “Big Society” and localism agendas seemed to support the public helping themselves and many people made mention of this.

3.7 The distribution of salt / grit for general public use, however well intentioned, comes at a cost to the Council. Furthermore there is strong evidence from public comments to us (as well as observations from Council Officers) that on occasions grit is solely or partly used for private use on drives and paths.

3.8 There are of course examples of where bags of salt / grit have been gratefully received and spread to the benefit of the highway user. However, even these can only provide sufficient for use over a small section of highway and in many roads requests for more than one bin/bag have been requested as well as regular top ups during extended bad weather.

3.9 Traditionally the highway authority has identified the busier and steeper slopes and junctions on the ungritted network for grit bin provision. It is now timely that a fundamental review of this provision should be undertaken as part of the overall winter service review before the 2011/12 winter.

3.10 The demand for gritting and bins from the public tends to be based on their particular circumstances and may not fit into a neat overall priority assessment. There are many reasons cited by the public to justify additional treatment e.g. key worker cannot get to work; doctor on call; funeral taking place; just too slippery to walk to treated roads or bus services; cannot get access to doctors or chemists; bins cannot be collected; etc.

3.11 The range of reasons and geographical spread strengthens the case for a “many people helping their local area” approach rather than the narrower traditional “Borough should provide all” approach. However it should be recognised that caution needs to be heeded before committing any Borough resources (including even just supplying grit) into these community based actions, as this coincides with increasing pressure on the Councils finances within the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) to actually reduce overall public expenditure. This fact needs to be effectively communicated with the public in order to manage expectations in this area.

4 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

4.1 The cost of providing the overall winter service is found from within Transportation Services revenue budgets. The following figures demonstrate how the overall provision has reflected the intensity of the winter weather. Any shortfall in budget has to be found at the expense of other areas of highway maintenance, and therefore this situation is simply not sustainable in the long term.

Year Winter Service Budget Winter Service Spend

07/08 £136K £95K

08/09 £122K £150K

09/10 £139K £223K

10/11 £140K £230K (est.)

11/12 £141K TBC

4.2 The cost of providing a new filled grit bin is approx. £210, with subsequent refills at approximately £30. The total cost for each site could therefore equate to some £300 in the first year and £100 per annum in following years.

4.3 An alternative to a bin could be the provision of a dumpy bag of grit / sand delivered directly from a supplier or the Borough to a site either throughout the winter or just when needed if adverse conditions were imminent. Early indications suggest a cost of around £30/bag delivered. Deliveries could equally be to the public and need not be on the highway – and could be for private use as well.

4.4 Issues to be considered include:

(a) containment and weather protection issues

(b) sufficient footway width for the bins without becoming an obstruction or trip hazard to pedestrians.

(c) the staff resources required to service these at a time when there are many other calls upon their time.

5 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

5.1 Under Section 41(1A) of the Highways Act 1980 and further to Section 111 of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, Highway Authorities have a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice.

5.2 There are further legal duties imposed by Section 150 of the Highways Act 1980 (duty to remove any obstruction from the highway resulting from accumulations of snow.) and the Traffic Management Act 2004 (duty to manage the network to keep traffic moving – including plans for dealing with unplanned events such as unforeseen weather conditions). Again “reasonable practicability” applies and the duties are not absolute.

5.3 It could be argued that the authority is discharging its duty under the Act by undertaking actions to keep the busiest parts of its network free of snow or ice - as far as reasonably practicable with its budgets. Lesser risk highways could be treated as desired by the community.

6 RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

6.1 The risk is balancing reasonably between overspending and the public being put at risk by slippery conditions on the network during prolonged periods of snow and ice. If resources become too stretched then a revised policy would need to put in place and communicated to the public.

7 EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

7.1  The highway network serves everyone equally. Special needs e.g. requiring special access arrangements would need to be accommodated on a one-off site specific basis.

8 CONCLUSIONS

8.1 The last two exceptional winters have highlighted exceptional pressures on highway maintenance operations which could not have reasonably been predicted and as item 4.1 shows are not fully funded.

8.2 With ongoing constraints on budgets envisaged and public winter service expectation high, there is a need through effective communication to reduce this expectation of what the Council can actually provide and also to encourage local self help.

8.2 A fundamental review and re-assessment of the existing grit bin provision for highway priority needs will be undertaken and incorporated into overall winter service review currently scheduled for May 2011. In recognition of the concern expressed through this petition it is proposed that all members be contacted with a list of grit bins in their area asking for their view as to whether they are in the correct place. This will, however, be against the background of the overall financial pressures that exist in this area and therefore any request for new additional provision will require a corresponding consideration as to what other areas of the service will need to be cut to pay for this.

8.4 Once the winter service review has been undertaken and the feedback from others including other Service Units, emergency services, adjacent authorities, the public, this meeting, etc. considered, a revised winter service for 2011/12 will be presented to this Group in September 2011.

JULIAN McLAUGHLIN

Head of Transportation Services

Appendix A- List of locations of existing grit bins and additional provisions made during 2010/11

Name and Telephone Number of Officer Contact: John Sayers (01202) 262206

Appendix A - List of locations of existing grit bins and additional provisions made during 2010/11

l/c – lamp column

Road / Location / Info
Alder Hills / l/c 7 / Grit Bin
Alton Road / Jct Osborne Road School Crossing / Grit Bin
Anvil Crescent / At the top of the hill. o/s 4 & 65 / Grit sack after request
Anvil Crescent/ Holland Road / Grit sack after request
Ashington Lane / junc Merley Park Rd / Grit Bin
Ashwood Drive / there is a small grit bin at the top of the very steep hill, it would seem appropriate to site on at the bottom of the hill. / Grit sack after request
Ashwood Drive / l/c 5 / Grit Bin
Bassett Road / Grit sack after request
Beaconsfield Road / Grit sack after request
Beechbank Avenue / l/c 16 / Grit Bin
Belle Vue Road / Grit sack after request
Beresford Road / l/c 1 o/s 1a / Grit Bin
Binnie Road / jct Gloucester Road / Grit sack after request
Birchwood Road / Grit sack after request
Blakehill Avenue / Top of Hill / Grit sack after request
Blakehill Avenue / o/s no 18 / Grit Bin
Blakehill Crescent / Nr Jct Compton Avenue / Grit sack after request
Bremble Close / Grit sack after request
Bridgewater Road / Grit sack after request
Bridport Road / Nr L/c 1 Jct Bloxworth Road / Grit sack after request
Broadstone Rec / Car park at the cricket pitch. / Grit sack after request
Brownsea View Avenue / o/s 58 / Grit Bin
Bryant Rd / No 31 / Grit sack after request
Buccleugh Rd / Grit sack after request
Bus Station Car Park / At bottom of slope by entrance / Grit Bin
Carrisbrooke Crescent / Grit sack after request
Carroll Close / Grit sack after request
Chaldon Road / Grit sack after request
Chaldon Road / Grit Request
Charborough Road / On the steep part into Lower Blandford Road. / Grit sack after request
Christopher Crescent / Pergins / Grit Bin
Civic Centre / next to bin compound / Grit Bin
Clarence Garden for Pickering Close / o/s no 1 / Grit Request
Constitution Hill Road / near l/c 25 / Grit Bin
Cooke Road / l/c 10 / Grit Bin
Corbiere Avenue / Grit sack after request