Neighbourhood grit provision will be slashed this winter by North Lanarkshire Council

The plan, discussed at a virtual meeting of the Environment and Transportation committee on Wednesday, August 26, contains no changes from the previous year but it should be noted that this covers only normal services, not major events such as 2018’s  Beast from the East.

Following February’s budget decision grit bin provision has been rationalised to focus on the areas most in need of bins, with the overall number being reduced by 20 per cent. The previous number of bins in North Lanarkshire- 2,690 – had been deemed unsustainable.

Maps of gritting routes are available online and there are also plans to introduce realtime online information about gritting operations for the first time this winter.

Committee convener Michael McPake commented: “What we should remember from last year is it was really a cold winter although people might not think so. They were out gritting  from late September right in til the start of lockdown which was March 22, they were still out using the road salt at that time. Although there wasn’t a lot of snow there was a hell of a lot of hard work last year as well. ”

Councillor William Goldie asked if the priority of roads and footpaths could be increased as a result of accidents happening at these locations as a result of water runoff.

The council’s head of environmental asset maintenance Nicole Paterson, who wrote the report considered by the committee, confirmed the ability ot introduce new grit bins if required, adding hat bins in the vicinity of schools would remain regardless.

Councillor Goldie also noted a contractual obligation to fill grit bins by October, but queried the procedure for refilling the bins.

Ms Paterson stated that it was not common for grit bins to be emptied unless extreme weather events such as the Beast from the East occurred, and that the filling of bins was an expensive procedure.

“What we don’t want to do is fill them to the brim, then that they don’t get used and then any grit that we took out of those bins would need to be fully disposed of, it can’t be added to the stockpile again, so what we don’t want to do is create a greater problem for ourselves but of course the caveat remains that if any of those grit bins should run dry at any point, or if we were to see a Beast from the East then of course we will re-look at that.”

Councillor Goldie then asked about the possibility of grit bins being used for rubbish if left empty, and if they could be removed swiftly which Ms Paterson confirmed.

“If any bins are becoming nuisances, for example by being set on fire or used for other purposes of course we can go in and remove them,” she added.

Councillor Goldie then condemned recent attacks on bin crews and gritter crews, saying: “I hope we have an active policy of reporting that to the police”.

Councillor McPake confirmed that every attack on gritters or crews was reported to police as a matter of course.

Councillor William Doolan expressed concern over the reduced number of grit bins: “I have noted a reduction of 538 bins within our communities and I think that is a serious serious indictment on the communities. Two years ago as Nicole referred to we had the heaviest snow, frost everything like that. We stood in the council chamber and applauded the hard work being done in the communities in order to keep them moving.

“I don’t see a mass overprovision within the communities I represent and you could be cutting a lifeline to communities by reducing the grit bins and I would ask to reconsider this decision because I think they do play a vital role in our communities and are well used by the people.”

Councillor McPake responded by saying “This is a budget decision we are at now which was taken in the budget for 2020 and all we are doing is acting on that.”

Ms Paterson pointed out that the number of bins had previously been as low as 760 and whenever anyone requested a grit bin one was provided. “We began to rationalise by putting them out where they can be most effective.”

She also highlighted that this plan was for normal weather pattern and further contingencies were planned for extreme weather events.

Councillor Junaid Ashraf requested further information about the nature of the council’s extreme weather plans, and was informed the plan was not written as such, but each extreme event is looked at in its own terms and the roads team and response planners tailor their methods in accordance with the specific issues facing North Lanarkshire.

Councillor McPake added that meetings held at the start of each winter covering all aspects of the council also help plan for weather contingencies in conjunction with advice from the Scottish Government.