Snow and Grit( the lack of!)

blackbearbosin

I see, today 14 January 2010, on the BBC News website that in April 2009 local councils were offered 60,000 tons of salting grit at a reduced price.

'With the government looking to buy salt from abroad,' Mr Stephen ( of the companies willing to supply this discounted grit) said 'councils could have stocked up last year and saved money if they had ordered earlier.'

What I love is the following answer from the LGA.!!

'David Sparks, a member of the transport board of the Local
Government Association said he was not aware of British Salt's offer.

But he added: "That wouldn't have altered anything because
everybody did have six days of salt which was the consensus view of
the level of salt that was adequate to meet the demands that we
would face.

"The consensus may have been wrong but I don't know that, I would
much prefer us to systematically review it so we can come to a figure
in the light of our experience that is more able to deal with the
problems we face.
"If it is decided that we need to plan for [and] spend more money for
rarer events then so be it, but it needs to be something that's studied

systematically."'

If the councils had taken up the offer, the grit would have just sat in a depot, ready for immediate use when needed. Surely it would not have needed a major increase in the Council Tax for it to be stored

So everbody get ready for the same disruption the next time it snows and the time after that and........

bubbles0169

ok lga
so where has the grit from our area gone?
our allowance has not been used
consequently the bin wagon couldnt get down our street
it did go down the next street which was just as icy
where has the money gone that would have paid the wagon and workers to empty our bins/grit our roads?
i would like a refund please!!

wallbash

A longer thread in Discussion Time


Can only agree with Poosmate who posted

quote

Another thing, I don't know how much has been spent on gritting this year, but lets say for instance the Councils invest the same amount for next winter, ordering the same amount of rocksalt as has been/will be spread this winter, and next winter is mild amd relatively little grit/rocksalt is required? I guess there would be hell to pay because there are mountains of grit going to waste and there's no money left to fill the pot holes.

I guess to use a flooding/storm term, this is a 1 in 30 year winter snow fall. No Council in the land would budget year after year for a 1/30 chance liklihood - that's just utter madness!

kalaika

If councils had bought the extra grit and it wasn't needed they would be complaints that they were wasting money by storing unecessary levels.

If they had bought it, they would have had to store it for 9 months which, if there wasn't spare capacity in the existing facilities, would mean complaints that a new storage depot was being built when it was unlikely to be needed.

They can't do right for doing wrong sometimes.

Personally, I think that the councils around me have done a very good job in doing the best they can whilst battling unnusually high levels of snow and ice.

The_One_Who

wallbash wrote: »

A longer thread in Discussion Time


Can only agree with Poosmate who posted

quote

Another thing, I don't know how much has been spent on gritting this year, but lets say for instance the Councils invest the same amount for next winter, ordering the same amount of rocksalt as has been/will be spread this winter, and next winter is mild amd relatively little grit/rocksalt is required? I guess there would be hell to pay because there are mountains of grit going to waste and there's no money left to fill the pot holes.

I guess to use a flooding/storm term, this is a 1 in 30 year winter snow fall. No Council in the land would budget year after year for a 1/30 chance liklihood - that's just utter madness!

They could sell the excess, no?

Anyway, my council seem to be doing not too badly lately, especially considering my area has yet to really recover from the pre-Christmas snowfall. Just as things are looking up, it starts to snow again.

voiceofreason

wallbash wrote: »

A longer thread in Discussion Time


Can only agree with Poosmate who posted

quote

Another thing, I don't know how much has been spent on gritting this year, but lets say for instance the Councils invest the same amount for next winter, ordering the same amount of rocksalt as has been/will be spread this winter, and next winter is mild amd relatively little grit/rocksalt is required? I guess there would be hell to pay because there are mountains of grit going to waste and there's no money left to fill the pot holes.

I guess to use a flooding/storm term, this is a 1 in 30 year winter snow fall. No Council in the land would budget year after year for a 1/30 chance liklihood - that's just utter madness!

Quite - interestingly, though, and going on personal experience, I'd suggest that the same people moaning now about not having any grit, would be the ones moaning in this case that there was unused grit sitting there taking up their council tax or whatever.

!!!!!!. :mad:

Mankysteve

How long as this weather has been going on for 3 to 4 week imagine how much it would have cost just to store that amount of grit never mind buy the stuff in the first place. Government organisation especially when one part of the government has just wasted billions need try to reduce costs. IF they've brought enough Grit to cover this entire period and it hasn't snowed there would have been public outcry at the costs.

bap98189

The_One_Who wrote: »

They could sell the excess, no?

Who to? As far as I know there is no other use for this grit.

And then there would need to be investment in warehouses to store the stuff since it cannot be stored outside for long periods.

The_One_Who

The council doesn't need to buy in as much as needed for this year, but could work to a frame of, say, one in ten/fifteen year cold snap. Or whatever, I'm sure some meteorologist will work it out.

The grit could be sold to other countries, I'm sure this already happens.

biscit

Councils put out yellow grit bin for use by the public to get to the places they can't.

Does anyone have a yellow grit bin near them, and do they make use of it?

Reggie_Rebel

blackbearbosin wrote: »

If the councils had taken up the offer, the grit would have just sat in a depot, ready for immediate use when needed.

It would have been nicked by the council workers who would now be the proud owners of nice clear drives and paths