Winter Roads Maintenance Plan for Badenoch and Strathspey approved for 2021/22
Members of the Badenoch and Strathspey Area Committee today (9 August 2021) agreed to approve the 2021/22 Winter Maintenance Plan.
The approved plan includes a road map of prioritised gritting routes. Members heard there have been no changes from last year’s arrangements and no change to budget or resources.
The roads management team highlighted that the fleet in Badenoch and Strathspey is relatively young. The report also highlighted that were a lot of pressures last year in terms of vehicle breakdown, but since then the team has had discussions with fleet and are expecting an improvement in that area.
The roads maintenance plan includes a road map of prioritised gritting routes.
Primary routes are treated first, followed by secondary routes and crews will only move on to treat other roads when the primary and secondary routes are all completed as resources permit.
Chair of the Badenoch and Strathspey Area Committee, Cllr Bill Lobban said: “As always we will keep a close eye on the plan throughout the winter period and respond to any changes in weather conditions, by using our existing resources to best effect.”
The plan highlights footway treatment times. From Monday to Friday the service will be provided between 6am and 6pm and footways will be treated on a priority basis as resources permit. On weekends and public holidays the service will be provided between 6am and noon on Primary and strategic footways as resources permit. There will be no service for footways on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.
The report presented to members at today’s Area Committee mentioned the impact COVID-19 has last year and recognised there may be some impact again this year. It was recognised that if the team loses gritter drivers to COVID-19 it does put extra pressure on the system.
A standby system operates during the core winter period. This ensures that sufficient staff and drivers are available to cover weekends and respond to out of hours emergencies. In order to optimise available resources, the number of drivers utilised for normal gritting activities may be supplemented by resources from other services such as Amenities or Waste.
Details of the Badenoch and Strathspey Area winter maintenance approved by Councillors can be found on the council’s website at: https://www.highland.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/4462/badenoch_and_strathspey_area_committee
Highland Council also encourages the local communities to apply for self-help through the “Winter Resilience” scheme where the Council can provide salt bins, scrapers and reflective waistcoats. While this does not replace Council services it allows communities to be more resilient in their own local areas.
Applications for the Winter Resilience scheme can be made at: https://www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/download/836/winter_resilience_community_aid