Public meeting in Charlbury to discuss the snow crisis?

Tue 19 Jan 2010, 18:32

My email to David Cameron (which was mainly concerned with non-gritting of the pavements during the pre-Christmas cold snap, but touched on other issues as well) has elicited the following response from Cllr Rodney Rose at OCC. He has agreed that I can post his response here.

Dear Mr Collett

Thank your for your email to David Cameron regarding the salting of pavements in Charlbury, I am sorry to hear of your injury and trust you are recovering well.

I can confirm that as the footways generally form part of the Highway network, it is the County Council as Highway Authority who are responsible, however due to our limited resources both in terms of man power and materials the footway network is generally not a priority. During the latest event the County Council highways department has had the assistance of the District Councils who have helped clear the town centre areas including footways, but this resource and hence the output was limited but again restriction such as salt supplies which was well documented in the media the Councils were not able to undertake this aspect as they would have liked.

There are several locations in Charlbury where salt bins are present and it is the responsibility of the County Council where possible to keep them filled. The salt in these bins is for use on the public highway and is there for anyone to spread, however, I am aware of instances where salt/grit has been removed for personal use thus leaving supplies short for its intended use, unfortunately local authorities rarely have the man power to spread the salt from the bins themselves.

I am sorry if you feel the local authority could have done more but their priority was aimed at keeping the strategic road network open which due to the restrictions imposed on local authorities with regard to the salt supply was a struggle at best.

Yours sincerely

Cllr Rodney Rose

Cabinet Member for Transport Implementation

I am very interested in the statement "salt/grit has been removed for personal use". Last week we were being encouraged to clear the snow and ice from the pavements outside our houses to help people walk about safely. Presumably, if we use council grit to help in this endeavour then we are liable to be prosecuted for theft, as happened in a famous case in Preston last winter! As a non-car owner I don't see why I should automatically be worse off than a motorist every time it snows. Can someone please explain this anomaly?

Did anyone witness council workers clearing the pavements in Charlbury? I saw this being done in Oxford last Thursday but certainly not in Charlbury. We are a town so I don't see why we shouldn't qualify for a town centre pavement-clearance operation here.

I shall be writing to Cllr Rose to suggest that the pavement on Dyers Hill leading down to the station should be made a priority with regard to snow/ice clearing efforts from now on.