Monday 13 December 2010

BIG FREEZE UPDATE - 13.1.10, 8.20am



Waste collections will continue to take place where roads have been treated. Households whose scheduled collection is Wednesday are asked to put their waste out for collection where it is safe to do so. Members of the public should also be able to take their waste to special collection points, which will be open from mid morning. Primary schools will open at 10.00am.

Weather Forecast

The snow that has fallen overnight and drifting was experienced over high ground. Extensive ploughing was necessary to keep these roads open. Road conditions are expected to remain very icy. Road and pavement conditions remain extremely hazardous. The Met Office have advised that the snowfall is dying out and no further snowfall is expected after this band of weather has passed through.

The long-term weather forecast indicates the extremely cold weather is likely come to an end towards the weekend where there is likely to be a thaw. 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 has gritted and ploughed throughout the night to keep prioritised routes main routes open,  which are passable with care. However there has been some drifting on higher grounds. The gritting team are currently treating Bathwick hill which should open shortly. Drivers should take special care on untreated roads  and hills. An emergency gritting vehicle will be available around the clock to tackle any specific problems on the main network. We will continue to put grit in bins where essential. 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.

Because the Council must focus its resources on priority routes, side roads will not be gritted and there will be very limited salting of pavements. Road users should also take special care with the steep hills and untreated roads.  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 normal treatment rates across 253 miles. That is 37% of the road network – a figure considerably above the national average of 30%. 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.

Limited waste collections on treated highways routes took place on Monday and Tuesday. These arrangements remain in place on Wednesday.

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.

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

As of 6.45am 13 January:  Primary schools will open at 10.00am this will allow Head Teachers to assess the situation for their individual school, decisions on further restrictions or closures will be taken by each school and will be posted on this and school's own websites.  It is anticipated that most primary schools will be open from 10.00am.

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 and Recycling
Households where roads have been treated and are scheduled for a collection, are asked to leave their waste out for collection. Our drivers will be using their discretion to determine where it is safe to collect waste (i.e where vehicles can operate safely and it is safe underfoot for staff). All other households are asked not to put out their waste for collection on Wednesday.

In order to help a a time when many waste collections have been disrupted by the weather, the Council has set up 5 staffed waste collection points (where waste collection vehicles will be located) and these will be available from mid morning today (Wednesday). Crews are currently out salting access to these areas

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
Tesco Car Park, Old Mills, Paulton
Morrisons Car Park, London Road, Bath

Members of the public may take their waste and recycling to these locations where staff will assist them in disposing of their waste.

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.

Public Transport

It is likely that there will be some disruption to public transport. First bus have suspended all services in Bath. For information on the wider public transport network, bus passengers can call Traveline on 0871 200 2233.

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.