Council staff are showing

‘true grit’ by giving their all to keep one of Britain’s biggest boroughs

moving.

Since Friday evening’s snowfall

workers have been out and about across the 77 square miles of Wigan Borough,

gritting, clearing and keeping the roads and footpaths as clear and safe as

possible.

The council’s gritting policy

is to treat all major road and public transport routes. Grit bins have also

been placed at strategic locations across Wigan Borough to enable residents to

treat sections of road that may become hazardous during icy conditions.

In preparation for the winter

conditions the council has this year has erected its own new salt-barn, capable

of holding more than 4,000 tonnes of rock salt – which, with careful planning,

should last throughout the season to keep the network gritted.

But even with a well-stocked

barn, gritting every street in the borough even just once a day would soon

diminish supplies.

Wigan Council’s Cabinet

Member for the Environment, Cllr David Molyneux, says: “The borough has 583

miles of highway and to treat everywhere would be the equivalent of gritting

from here to Frankfurt and back every day it freezes.

“It is extremely challenging

to salt thousands of miles of road in the short window of opportunity that’s

available to us, so we have to prioritise the 20 per cent of roads that 80 per

cent of traffic, including emergency vehicles, use.”

Because of the bad weather

the council has had to call a temporary halt to many of the borough’s daily bin

collections.

Treacherous conditions make

it virtually impossible and potentially hazardous to navigate a large bin lorry

through frozen residential areas.

However bin rounds have

continue along the major transport routes and the council has set up waste

drop-off points for residents across the borough.

Council staff are also

working hard to keep the borough’s network of Household Waste Recycling Centres

open.

Many waste and recycling staff

members have taken on extra duties, with 120 workers from street cleansing and

waste collection services carrying out snow and ice clearing and manual

gritting. The teams are focusing on town centres, bus stops, hospitals,

doctors’ surgeries and other priority locations.

The council has this year

been keeping residents informed of what is happening by making the most of new

technology. As well as interactive information on roads, gritting, school

closures and out-of-hours help on the council’s website, the authority has been

keeping people clued-up via Facebook and Twitter social networking sites.

Cllr Molyneux says: “We have

seen tens of thousands of people accessing our website and our social

networking sites over the past few days and we have also received praise from

many of our followers for keeping them informed.

“We would like to thank the

residents and business community of the borough for working with us over the

past few days. Forecasts predict clear skies over the next few days up until

Christmas but we all know how changeable the weather can be. We know that

residents will use their common-sense when making travel arrangements over the

holiday period. We cannot eliminate the risk of black ice developing, even on

roads that have been treated.”

Cllr Molyneux adds: “I would

also like to thank all those workers who have done their very best to help keep

our borough going during these difficult conditions. Last year we fared as well

as any borough in the North West thanks to the efforts of staff and this year,

I believe we are even more prepared.

I often hear the question

‘Where are the gritters?’ and I can assure everyone that they are out at work,

often throughout the night, working in treacherous conditions for the benefit

of residents, the emergency services and transport.

“It is a testament to the

dedication and commitment of our staff and those of our partner organisations

that we have been to manage the situation so successfully so far.”

• You

  can keep up to date with what’s happening locally by visiting Wigan

  Council’s website: www.wigan.gov.uk