Severe weather round-up

Council's round-the-clock operation to keep town centres open and borough on the move.

The severe weather conditions of the past few days have seen the council doing its very best to keep the borough on the move in the important run-up to Christmas.

Cllr Colin Rayner, lead member for highways and streetcare, said: "It is vital to keep main roads open whatever time of the year but doubly so in the important final shopping days before Christmas. That's why we had gritters out round-the-clock from Friday afternoon and throughout the weekend treating primary and then secondary routes. We also treated town centre footways and car parks first thing each morning.

"I am glad to say that shops were open for business as usual in the town centres and while footfall was down - as it was across the entire country - the council did everything in its power to combat the atrocious conditions. However, there is always room for improvement and we are constantly looking to see how we can make our services better and even more responsive to the needs of our community."

Cllr Rayner said that on Saturday several inches of snow fell in two hours, which made some roads very treacherous.

He said: "The streetcare teams were detailed into the town centres to grit the pedestrian areas. A number of council officers went back into work to make sure they supported the council staff and contractors 'on the ground'. Instructions were given to run the gritters throughout the night to make sure that the borough was open for business on Monday morning. During the night, council officers and members were in constant contact to make sure we put resources where they were needed.

"On Sunday morning, a number of councillors visited gritting stations and the control room, drove the roads and went into the town centres to see for themselves what was happening.

"We still have a long way to go in this winter and I ask residents to support the council in this difficult time and to make sure they are prepared for the next heavy snow fall."

Weather update - what the council has been doing since Friday.

Gritting
• Round-the-clock gritting started on Friday afternoon, concentrating on the borough's primary and secondary routes to keep them open. Gritting teams worked in 12-hour shifts to make sure that roads were made as safe as possible in very difficult conditions.
• We receive detailed local weather forecasts which enabled us to prepare for the snow on Saturday. The gritters went out at 4am to pre-treat roads and were sent out with snow ploughs at 11am to clear snow as it fell. Six further rounds of treatment were applied over Saturday/Sunday.
• During the last spell of severe weather in January the council compiled a list of streets, shopping areas etc which are difficult to access - from information provided by ward councillors, parish councils, community groups and residents - and agreed to treat them in a prolonged period of frost and snow. These were done on Monday and also included entrances to hospitals, older people's residential homes, day centres and entrances to railway stations.
• Main town centres, car parks and other key areas have continued to be salted early every morning in readiness for people going to work and for shops opening.

Self-help in the community
The council has been encouraging communities to help themselves too. Earlier this year residents voted for capital projects they wanted the council to fund and one of the top three was extra equipment to use in severe weather.

This enabled the council to provide:
• 60 additional grit bins to parish councils, community and residents' associations etc - there are now 100 bins across the borough and they are being well used and were topped up on Monday.
• 120 shovels (provided to parishes, Adopt-a-Street volunteers etc)
• Eight push-type mechanical spreaders for gritting town centres
• Additional salt supplies were purchased to double the amount we had at the start of last winter.

Salt supplies
• The council is keeping a very close check on our salt supplies. Around 250 tonnes were used over the weekend but there is enough in store to last until after Christmas (provided the weather does not deteriorate further) and fresh supplies have been ordered, both from our the council's own suppliers and also from the national strategic stock pile (deliveries awaited).
• Salt loses its effectiveness when temperatures fall below -7 or -8 degrees C and it needs traffic going over it to grind it into the snow and ice to really make it work. Saturday's high volumes of slow moving traffic did not enable the salt to work as effectively as it should.
• Although we used snow ploughs on Saturday morning, they cannot be used where there are road humps.

Waste services
• While the waste collection service had to be suspended yesterday and today because of the treacherous conditions in side roads and housing areas not on primary and secondary routes, this is being kept under constant review and a decision will be taken immediately conditions improve.
• Residents who did not have their normal collection this week could take domestic waste if they wished to three locations in Maidenhead, Ascot and Windsor today (Tuesday).
• Residents are being asked to put out their bins as usual and to check the borough's website www.rbwm.gov.uk for updates.
• The civic amenity site at Braywick has been closed since Saturday because of the treacherous road conditions.

Caring for vulnerable people in our community
• The adult and community services team has also been working to provide on-going support to more vulnerable residents. This has involved council and private care staff extending their hours and work, for example visiting vulnerable and housebound people to ensure they had meals and personal care necessary to keep them safe in their own homes, or had day support when attending day centres proved impossible.
• The council has supplied 4x4 vehicles to help ensure that the home care and meals-on-wheels services can continue with volunteer drivers from various teams, including the community wardens, the operations and car parks teams and planning policy (managed through the control room at Tinkers Lane).

Cllr Rayner added: "As ever, Royal Borough staff have been tremendous in their response since Friday, working long hours and giving up their own time to ensure the council does its very best for residents. Many staff offered their services without having to be asked and did so cheerfully, despite being so near Christmas which is a busy time for all of us. We are fortunate to have such dedicated people at our disposal.

"We are nevertheless conscious that a number of roads and footways remain difficult and we are asking residents to maintain their good neighbourliness and community spirit. If they have any concerns they should not hesitate to contact our customer service centre in the usual way."

Service updates are available on the council's website at www.rbwm.gov.uk and also via Twitter and Facebook.

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