Plymouth City Council made every effort to grit roads

Labour and the Independent Alliance groups not happy

Plymouth’s Tory led council insists it has been making every effort to grit icy roads after freezing temperatures last weekend led to traffic problems and disruption to public transport.

It comes after Labour and the Independent Alliance groups wrote to the Conservative cabinet member for transport, Cllr Jonathan Drean, demanding to know “what went wrong.”

Sub-zero temperatures on Saturday and Sunday led to some roads being impassable and dangerously slippy pavements.  

Independent Alliance leader and councillor for Compton, Nick Kelly, wrote to Cllr Drean saying: “It should be remembered that Mutley Plain is the largest district shopping centre in Plymouth and the station is a key transport hub. 

“The roads and pavements were treacherous, and I have heard of numerous road accidents.”

Cllr Kelly insisted “lives were seriously put at risk.”

He added: “What went wrong? How can a city of our size fail so miserably?

“Who is responsible and what steps you have taken to avoid a repeat of this unacceptable situation?” 

Further criticism came from Plymouth Labour’s spokesperson on transport and councillor for Devonport, Mark Coker.  

Cllr Coker said: “I am asking questions on behalf of the many, many residents who were affected by the weather this weekend and feel they were let down by a lack of planning by the council.”

On Monday, Cllr Coker asked six questions to Cllr Drean to determine what actions were taken to keep the city centre and shopping centres free from ice, why grit bins in the city centre were not refilled and why 60 percent of the city’s network was left untreated. 

Cllr Coker added: “With Christmas coming and more people using our city centre we need reassurances that those areas are going to be properly treated when we have low temperatures and that our roads will be treated appropriately too.

“Something went wrong this weekend and we need to get to the bottom of what that was so it doesn’t happen again.”

Responding to the concerns, Cllr Drean, who represents Budshead ward, insisted the winter service plan had been in place for many years and the gritting routes were the same as last year. 

“Our gritters are on 24-hour standby from the beginning of October to the end of March,” said Cllr Drean. 

“Teams monitor the weather very closely every day to ensure main roads are pre-treated with salt before temperatures drop and help prevent icy patches from forming. They are planned to be out, during the afternoon, sometimes additionally at night, and always early in the morning from approx.. 0300 onwards. 

“We have six operation vehicles covering the cities routes, except the A38 Parkway which is the responsibility of National Highways.”

Cllr Drean explained how the highways team has a link to the Met Office in Exeter to help predict frost or snow and prepare the roads in advance.

“A full gritting run covers more than 40 per cent of the city’s road network and takes about three hours,” he said. “All our vehicles are fitted with a tracking device that monitors the tonnage of salt used on different parts of the network during each trip. This data can be used if its thought an area was not gritted by checking the time when in the area.

“Gritters were out on all primary and secondary routes on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and will be in the early hours [of Wednesday].”

Plymouth City Council does not routinely grit pavements but insists residents can use the community salt bins. 

Details of the council’s gritting routes can be found at www.plymouth.gov.uk/winter-gritting