Leaders from Gedling Borough Council have slammed the gritting operation carried out yesterday on roads in the borough.
Cllr. Michael Payne, deputy leader of Gedling Borough Council today released a joint statement with other leaders criticising the gritting operation carried out by Nottinghamshire County Council.
In the statement from Mr Payne, which was also agreed with Cllr. John Clarke, leader of Gedling Borough Council and Vernon Coaker, MP for Gedling; said: “Residents in Gedling Borough have raised serious concerns with us about Nottinghamshire County Council’s gritting operation on the afternoon and evening of Saturday, March 17.
“Severe weather was predicted for our local area but Nottinghamshire County Council’s gritting operation across Gedling Borough – including Arnold, Mapperley Plains, Woodthorpe, Daybrook, Redhill, Carlton, Gedling, Netherfield and Colwick seemed to be slower and less effective than it has been previously.
“Once again we find ourselves having to call for an urgent review of the county council’s response to severe weather in Gedling Borough, which is one of the hilliest and steepest boroughs in the County of Nottinghamshire.
The statement goes on to claim a ‘slower than normal gritting response by the County Council left a number of main gritting routes closed by the middle of the evening’ it also claims ‘bus routes were severely affected, leaving many residents to walk home from Nottingham and surrounding areas – this is clearly unacceptable.”
In the statement, Mr Payne, Clarke and Coaker did also praise efforts from police.
They said: “We’d like to thank Nottinghamshire Police for their outstanding efforts to assist those left stranded and struggling yesterday evening on our local roads.
They also thanked residents across the borough for their efforts during the bad weather.
They said: “Thank you to a number of residents who also got stuck in to help others out. We’d also like to thank the frontline council staff who do their very best in difficult and challenging circumstances.”
The councillors have said they are now requesting a review from Nottinghamshire County Council about the operation.
They wrote: “We are requesting an urgent meeting with the leader of Nottinghamshire County Council and her senior officials to seek improvements in the County Council’s response to severe weather in our borough and ensure lessons are learned to avoid this kind of havoc being repeated in the future.
“A number of years ago we decided to install extra grit bins across our borough, provided by Gedling Borough Council and also purchased additional gritting machinery specifically for Gedling Borough. We also managed to secure a number of additional local roads being included on the County Council’s main gritting routes.
“It is clear the urgent review we are now calling for will need to look again at what more can be done to further improve things.”
Gedling Eye has contacted Nottinghamshire County Council for a response
Since VIA took over road maintenance for Nottinghamshire County Council profits are before service. VIA spend as little as possible to maximise profits. Yes Nottinghamshire CC are to blame for not monitoring the service delivery of one of their contractors.
Perhaps Kay Cutts and her administration should reflect on how many people emergency service workers were unable to get to both the City Hospital and the QMC attend call outs because the main arteries of the city and its suburbs were left untreated
Thousands of ordinary workers were stranded, unable to get home after their shift because with roads not gritted, buses were unable to use the roads and the taxi companies were forced to abandon bookings. I felt for the medics and ancillary workers walking from the QMC to homes in Arnold, Mapperley, Carlton and further afield after a nine-hour shift.
We knew it was going to snow. It was forecast on last Sunday’s C4 News. We know without gritting roads they become impassable – it’s not rocket science – Kay Cutts and her administration knew it too.
Frankly, if she had any honour, which I doubt, she would apologise to the people of Nottinghamshire, and tender her resignation.
I was one of those stranded. I was lucky however, I was not one of those whose car lost control on our ungritted roads – despite religiously paying Council Tax every month – and will be written off, nor was I the 20 year-old lass finishing work at midnight that faced a walk to her flat in Hyson Green – through a notorious red light area – in the freezing cold, because she couldn’t get a cab.