Winter Maintenance presentation covered at Hudds District Committee meeting on 25th November

1. Kirklees Winter 2014/15

2. Kirklees Winter 2014/15
Working better together
Our three-phase theme…
1. What the council does
2. What individuals / groups /
organisations can do for themselves
3. What individuals / groups /
organisations can do to help others

3. Grit
• We use rock salt which is known as ‘grit’ but is about 99% salt.
• Grit works by lowering the temperature at which water freezes. It relies on the
action of vehicle tyres to spread it over the road for it to be effective.
• A grit for frost uses about 100 tonnes of grit and we pre-grit for frost to help
prevent accidents.
• A grit for snow uses over 240 tonnes of grit. Grit is
not always visible. It’s much finer than it used to be
and fresh snow can still cover a gritted road.
• We begin with 25,000 tonnes of grit in preparation
for winter and this is stored throughout Kirklees at
purpose built storage sites.
What the council does

4. Grit bins
• We have over 1,450 grit bins in Kirklees. This grit is for use on public roads and
pavements, not for private use.
• A programme to repair or replace damaged grit bins, and to fill them all, is
completed by end October 2014.
• We help communities in severe weather
by providing grit for local use to support
vulnerable people and for those who meet
certain criteria such as volunteer farmers,
support workers or self-help groups for
example.
What the council does

5. Provision and maintenance of grit bins
We have reviewed the provision and maintenance of grit bins and Cabinet approved
the following proposals:
• To absorb the costs of the councillor funded grit bins (as the funding expires)
into the council’s winter maintenance budget. The grit bin service will
continue to be funded by this budget in the future.
• Cap the number of grit bins at the current level of
1,450 (as of March 2014) with no further increases in
grit bin numbers allowed.
• Ward councillors will continue to lead on the
distribution of existing grit bins, to meet local needs
and priorities within their wards.
What the council does

6. Gritting vehicles (gritters)
• We have a modern fleet of gritting vehicles (plus reserves).
• We grit when needed - weekends included.
• Gritters work best in light traffic so we grit early or late. If traffic is heavy, our
gritters cannot get through - and gritter drivers may struggle to get into work.
• We aim to grit at 5am, before rush hour and again at
6pm, after rush hour (weather permitting).
• Gritters will not clear people’s drives.
What the council does

7. Problems for gritters
Cars parked inappropriately, or just abandoned can cause problems for
gritters if space is tight.
• Gritters are wide vehicles, especially with the
plough attached, so they need plenty of room
between parked cars.
• This is also a problem for emergency vehicles
such as fire engines and ambulances.
• If we cannot get the gritter along a road because
parked cars are in the way, it will not be gritted.
What the council does

8. Helping people plan their journeys
• We have several snow warning signs that we can activate via a text message.
These signs warn drivers about any road closures over the Pennines that may affect
them.
• We get up to date weather forecasts direct from the MET office and have weather
sensors around Kirklees. Daily updates are on the website:
www.kirklees.gov.uk/winter
• We provide regular updates to the press and local
radio, particularly updates for breakfast bulletins.
• Up to date information is also available on social
media including Twitter @KirkleesWinter
• Our night patrols monitor the road situation.
What the council does

9. Gritting routes
We look after over 1,200 miles of road network and we grit 55% of this network in
response to forecasts. These priority routes can be viewed on the website:
www.kirklees.gov.uk/winter and are:
• main roads;
• main bus routes; and
• steep roads that provide important links to main roads.
We aim to treat this priority network within two hours of
starting to grit.
Kirklees exceeds the national average of 30% for its
priority network.
What the council does

10. Area based working teams
Our area based working teams work hard to treat and clear:
• Approaches to schools, hospitals, health centres and residential/care homes.
• Town centres - to help support businesses and the
local economy.
• Access to activities that are important to people such
as weddings, funerals, exams and other events -
whenever possible.
• The main public car parks - under extreme
conditions.
What the council does

11. The unpredictable
• Some weather conditions are extremely difficult to predict and there are
times when we simply cannot do anything to help.
• We carry out winter maintenance tasks in a certain order but in extreme or
prolonged weather conditions, we may have to change our plans and focus
on the things we can or need to do.
• We have to prioritise what we do and react
differently to each situation.
• In emergency situations, Transport Services will
work with health and social services to help get
patients to hospital appointments that cannot be
postponed.
What the council does

12. Other teams working on winter
Other Streetscene teams, and teams from other council services, contribute
towards the winter programme:
• Kirklees Direct staff are available to take calls from 8am to 5pm weekdays, 8am
to 4pm Saturdays and 9am to 4pm Sundays - 01484 414700
• Out of hours staff deal with emergency situations such as damaged street lights,
accidents, flooding or assisting the police for example. Kirklees Direct’s out of
hours message will provide the number to use.
• Streetscene staff liaise with voluntary groups and other
organisations such as schools, public transport companies
and hospitals to support their winter efforts.
• Winter maintenance staff work closely with the bin
collection service to make sure that all is done to allow the
service to carry out bin collections as close to their usual
timetable as possible.
What the council does

13. Encouraging involvement
We aim to raise awareness of what individuals / groups / organisations are
responsible for and what they can do for themselves by:
• Promoting the Snow Code - information on clearing snow and ice from pavements:
www.metoffice.gov.uk/get-ready-for-winter/out-and-about/the-snow-code
This website gives clear guidelines for people clearing their own driveways, and legal
implications for people clearing pavements and other public areas.
• Providing regular tweets, press and local radio
messages and other press activity to keep the public
updated and help them make informed decisions about
their winter arrangements.
• Support for schools by providing key messages for
schools to include in newsletters for example, to help
keep parents and carers informed.
What individuals / groups /
organisations can do for themselves

14. Enabling people to help others
In winter weather it is ‘all hands to the pump’ including involvement of many valued
volunteers. We aim to raise awareness (via the website and other publicity) of what
individuals / groups / organisations can do to help others by:
• Providing grit for self-help groups to help vulnerable people in their communities
by clearing their driveways or paths for example.
• Promoting volunteering and self-help groups via ward councillors, targetting those
who have volunteered in the past.
• Working with 4x4 or tractor drivers who offer to help.
• Encouraging the use of Twitter and other social
media for people to tell us, and others, what they
have done and to share their ideas and photographs.
• Asking people to keep an eye out for neighbours.
What individuals / groups /
organisations can do to help others

15. Working better together
The council has limited resources and restricted
budgets but our staff are committed to providing the
best possible winter service -
with your help and support.
Thank you for listening