Issue - meetings

1.         That the Highways Cold Weather Plan for the forthcoming 2015/16 season, attached as Annex 1 to the submitted report, be approved.

2.         That the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Board Winter Performance Task Group recommendations, as detailed within paragraph 3 of the submitted report, be noted.

Reasons for Decisions:

To agree the Highways Cold Weather Plan for the coming winter season.

[The decision on this item may be called in by the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Board]

The Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding began the introduction of this report by thanking the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Scrutiny Board’s winter performance task group for their excellent and helpful work.

He said that the Winter Service was delivered in two distinct operations:

1.       Pre-treatment of Routes and Advance Planning – this ensured that pre-defined route networks including carriageways, cycleways and areas of footway, were pre-treated according to their importance and the weather conditions, to inhibit the formation of ice and facilitate the removal of snow.

2.       Management of Severe Snow Event – this ensured the service was prepared to manage a severe snow event, to reduce disruption and improve safety.

He referred to the Surrey Priority Network (SPN) and the changes which would allow for more informed network discussions in the future and also that the footway priority snow clearing schedules had been updated and aligned with the new SPN maintenance hierarchy.

He said that the County Council was indebted to the 52 farmers who were under agreement to Surrey Highways Service to carry out snow clearance on certain minor roads and considered this was extremely helpful and had received strong resident support.

He also said that partnership working was key to the successful operation of the Winter Service Plan and that the County Council worked closely with Boroughs and Districts. He also referred to the Residents Communication Plan and the on-going publicity campaigns and said that the needs of all highway users, including those that were vulnerable were considered when making decisions on service provision, as detailed within paragraphs 34 – 36 of the report.

Cabinet considered that this was a good report and discussed different ways of communicating winter service information, including twitter, which was considered very effective in providing real-time information.

They also requested that the Plan was widely distributed to Borough, District and Parish Councils so that communities were aware of the arrangements made for dealing with a ‘big snow event’ and also the importance of identifying vulnerable people in their local communities.

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning considered that grit bins should be re-filled, if resources allowed, during the winter.

The Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience requested a copy of a map showing the location of the grit bins in her division, which the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding agreed to provide for her and other Members on request.

Finally, the Leader of the Council drew Cabinet’s attention to paragraph 37 of the report – Legal Implications, and requested that they ensured that they were aware of the legal duty of a local authority.

He also requested that a press release was prepared which explained the difference between different salting methods (dry and wet salt) and the benefits of using the ‘pre-wet’ salt used on Surrey roads.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the Highways Cold Weather Plan for the forthcoming 2015/16 season, attached as Annex 1 to the submitted report, be approved.

2.         That the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 176

Purpose of the report: Policy Development and Review

To outline to the Board the recommendations made by the Winter Performance Task Group.

            Declarations of Interest:

None.

            Witnesses:

     Tony Casey, Highways and Transport Maintenance Team Manager

     John Furey, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport & Flooding

            Key Points Raised During the Discussion:

1     Copies of the Highways Cold Weather Plan for 2014/15 were tabled at the meeting.

2     Stephen Cooksey introduced the report on behalf of the Winter Performance Task Group and highlighted the key points.  It was noted that the arrangements in the Cold Weather Plan had not been fully tested yet as the last two winters had been relatively mild.

3     It was reported that the purpose of the weather stations was to measure the road surface temperature, wind speed and air temperature in order to help to plan the response to cold weather.  The Highways Team also received three weather forecasts every day, covering periods of 24 hours, one week and 30 days.  Members commented that they found it helpful to receive email notifications in advance of severe weather, and it was suggested that the provision of information could be extended by using social media to distribute updates about gritting or other work being carried out.

4     All of the Borough and District Councils were now engaged in the delivery of the Cold Weather Plan and all provided a consistent range of services such as footway clearance.  There was, however, variation in the amount of resource individual councils could allocate to carry out the work.  It was agreed that additional information should be included in the resources section of the Cold Weather Plan, setting out the level of service provided by individual Boroughs and Districts in the event of the Plan being implemented.

5     It was explained that priority gritti­ng routes could be amended but members would need to contact the relevant highways officers to discuss this first.

6     The Board commended the work of the Task Group.

Recommendations:

The Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways board agreed and endorsed the following recommendations for submission to Cabinet,

a)    That the 2014/15 Gritting Route Network, with minor amendments resulting from member, resident and officer feedback, be maintained for the 2015/16 season.

b)    That communities be permitted to purchase additional grit bins at a total cost of £947 for an initial 4 year period and £639 for each subsequent 4 year extension, and that Parish Councils and other statutory bodies may be licensed to install grit bins on the public highway.

c)    That the Highways Cold Weather Plan 2015/16 be approved.

d)    That approval of any future amendments to the Highways Cold Weather Plan be delegated to the Assistant Director Highways and Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding.

Actions:

·         The task group report will be submitted to Cabinet for consideration.

Bob Gardner left the meeting at 11.45am.