Thursday, 14 January 2010
Weather Forecast
The Met Office forecast indicates that there will be cold weather overnight with freezing road temperatures. As a result, highways are expected to remain very icy. Road and pavement conditions will remain extremely hazardous. The Met Office has advised that the snowfall is dying out and no further snowfall is expected after this band of weather has passed through, although night time road temperatures are likely to stay around freezing,
The medium-term weather forecast indicates the very cold weather is likely come to an end towards the weekend where there is likely to be a thaw. However, low overnight temperatures will mean a continued risk of icy roads, especially on untreated routes.The Council advises anybody to plan carefully for any journeys and keep a close eye on the weather forecast. The Council is liaising with partners such as police, fire and the NHS Primary Care Trust to coordinate efforts.
Highways update
The Council gritting fleet will be out on Wednesday evening to keep prioritised routes open, which are passable with care. There has been some snow drifting on higher grounds. Drivers should take special care on untreated roads and hills. Gritting crews remain available around the clock to tackle any specific problems on the main network.
Central Government is now influencing the salt supply chain and has instructed all local Councils to reduce the use of salt by 25%. The Council must continue to ration the available supplies for priority routes because of this decision and the predicted freezing road temperatures.
Because the Council must focus its resources on priority routes and reduce salt consumption by 25%, side roads will not be gritted and there will be very limited salting of pavements. The Council will continue to monitor road conditions and will provide additional salting and gritting on priority routes when required.
Highways officers have worked extremely hard to secure salt deliveries and we now have enough salt for our state-of-the-art gritting fleet to comfortably take us into next week and spread grit across 253 miles. That is 37% of the road network – a figure considerably above the national average of 30%.
As a consequence of the predicted sub-zero road temperatures and uncertainty surrounding the national salt supply chain, the Council must now prioritise which grit bins will be refilled by considering the needs of local communities, surrounding terrain and ability to access the main road network. The Council relies upon the public to tell us when grit bins are empty and we can be contacted 24 hours a day on the Council Connect line.
People are asked not to travel to the Council Salt Barn in Clutton to request salt because of the need to prioritise our stocks for key transport routes. We suggest visiting your local builder’s merchants.
Members of the Public should contact the Police direct with road closure requests. The Council does not have the powers to make emergency closures of roads in these circumstances. The Council works closely with the emergency services and if we are requested by the Police to close a road we will implement a physical closure as far as our resources permit.
Public spaces and Car Parks
Council staff continue to clear shopping areas and car parks where resources allow and once priority routes have been attended to. However, there will be no further salting in these areas until the further supplies of salt can be guaranteed.
The Council closed Charlotte Street car park on Wednesday because of site conditions were dangerous. Other car parks were open. We will assess Charlotte Street car park tomorrow and attempt to clear spaces of snow.
Drivers are asked to drive and park their vehicles considerately during the cold weather. They should consider how their parking will affect the pedestrian use of road safety measures like zebra crossings and dropped kerbs.
Schools update
A number of schools are likely to be closed on Thursday. The latest schools information can be found at www.bathnes.gov.uk/schoolclosures
Parents/ guardians can also listen to their local radio station for information. Parents/ guardians should assume that Council-run transport to and from the school will attempt to run.
Waste Collections
Households where roads have been treated and are scheduled for a collection are asked to leave their waste out for collection on Thursday. Our drivers will be using their discretion to determine where vehicles can operate safely and it is safe underfoot. All other households are asked not to put out their waste for collection on Thursday. To minimise the waste collection disruption caused by the bad weather conditions, the Council has set-up 5 staffed waste collection points where waste collection vehicles will be located.
- Bath City Football Club- Twerton High Street, Twerton, Bath;
- Co-op Car Park - Broadmead Lane, Keynsham;
- Sainsbury Car Park, adjacent to the Hollies, Midsomer Norton (although this could not be set-up Wednesday because of bad weather, we hope o do so Thursday);
- Tesco Car Park, Old Mills, Paulton;
- Morrisons Car Park, London Road, Bath.
The Council waste and recycling collection services were cancelled on Wednesday 6th January, Thursday 7th, and Friday 8th last week. This was because of the conditions under foot and on side roads where heavy waste collection vehicles may have slid on ice and could have seriously damaged cars and/ or seriously injured pedestrians.
Recycling Centres are open but drivers must take care on the approach roads.
Public Transport
For information on the wider public transport network, bus passengers can call Traveline on 0871 200 2233.
Other services
Community Meals
Although road conditions are treacherous for our Community Meals Service we intend to provide a full service for our customers tomorrow. The Council is encouraging carers or neighbours to those people who receive a community meal to see whether that person needs a meal, and to help them if possible.
Any concerns regarding meal deliveries call 01225 394350.
Adult Services
If you have a vulnerable neighbour, please try and check their well-being during the cold weather.
All Day Centres were closed on Wednesday. More information will be issued Thursday tomorrow morning.
Agencies commissioned by the Council to provide Home Care services will advise clients or relatives of any problems with services. Telephone numbers for clients/ carers/ families can be found on www.bathnes.gov.uk/homecareproviders
Useful vulnerable adult telephone numbers: Community and Health Access Team at Lewis House, Bath: 01225 396000. Emergency Duty Team: 01454 615165.
Leisure Services
Aquaterra Leisure - the Council’s leisure centre contractor - are opening all sites as usual, however some classes and courses may still be impacted and suggest people contact their local leisure centre before setting out on their journey.
- Bath Sports and Leisure Centre - 01225 486905
- Keynsham Leisure Centre - 01225 395164
- South Wansdyke Sports Centre - 01761 415522
- Culverhay Sports Centre - 01225 480882
Chew Valley Sports Centre remains open.
Heritage Services
All Council attractions are due to open.
Libraries
All libraries are due to open their normal hours.
No Mobile Library service ran on Wednesday. More information about Thursday will be issued in the morning. For more information on Mobile Library services and routes go to www.bathnes.gov.uk/mobilelibrary
Democratic Services
The Council will to try to maintain its calendar of public meetings, but people are advised to check the website for more details.
For more information
1. The Council’s website will be updated regularly to keep residents up to date about general information: www.bathnes.gov.uk People logging onto the website should regularly refresh their web browser to ensure that they have the latest up date. by logging of the page and relogging on.
2. All other enquiries should be made to Council Connect on 01225 394041 between 8am – 6pm weekdays (Wednesday 9.30am – 6pm);
3. Outside of these times the Council’s Out of Office Emergency number is 01225 477 477;
4. People can email on council_connect@bathnes.gov.uk or SMS text on 07797806545. These can be contacted 24 hours a day and a response will be sent next working day. These methods should not be used for emergency communication.
Service specific telephone numbers
Enquiries about Adult care transport should call 01225 394371.
