Winter roads plan for Nairn area approved

Highland Council press release:

Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians in Nairn are urged to be aware of The Highland Council’s gritting plans in the local area over the winter months.

The Council’s priorities for gritting roads this winter have been approved by Councillors at a meeting of the Nairnshire Committee held today (Wednesday 7 December 2016).

Committee Chair, Councillor Michael Green said: “We have worked hard to ensure that the Council’s Winter Services Policy is as responsive as it can be to local needs and circumstances within the given amount of resources available to us.

“We all need to be prepared for the bad weather so I encourage everyone using the roads over the winter months to read the policy and look at the route maps so they know when and where Council gritters will be. They can’t be everywhere at once, but staff will be working hard to keep our roads and pavements clear in accordance with our local policy.”

The Nairn area has its own Winter Maintenance Plan which sets out operational details to deliver a service and comply with council policy.

57 km of Primary routes are treated first followed by 75 km of secondary routes. Crews will treat another 169 km of other roads as resources permit and only after primary and secondary route treatments are completed. The policy and gritting route priorities map approved by members today can be viewed on the council’s website at: http://www.highland.gov.uk/download/meetings/id/71325/item_9_-_winter_maintenance_plan_for_201617

The council’s weather forecast provider (Meteo Group Ltd) provides daily and 5 day weather forecasts which support local winter maintenance decision making. In addition to this across the Highlands real time data is obtained from 30 icealert sites. Nairn Area operates a Duty Officer rota to ensure that there is always an experienced member of staff available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to take decisions on the deployment of resources to deal with the prevailing weather conditions.

Nine council staff are involved in the provision of a winter maintenance service in the area including 1 Foreperson, a Community Works Officer and 7 Operatives who receive support from the local Amenity / Streets and Waste Operatives. The staff have 3 front-line gritters and a footpath tractor to deliver the service.

The average amount of salt used in Nairnshire each year is approximately 2,500 tonnes and the Council has currently around 60,000 tonnes in stock throughout Highland and has no concerns about salt supplies.

The public are reminded that they can apply for grit bins and community self-help through the Council’s ‘Winter Resilience Aid’ programme, details of which are on the council’s website at: http://www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/download/836/winter_resilience_community_aid