Gritting cuts: Calderdale changes its mind
Monday 25 November 2024
After last week's snow and ice, Calderdale Council have decided that the planned changes to its Winter Service due to start on 1 December 2024 will not go ahead.
The Council says it has listened carefully to the large number of concerns expressed ahead of the changes and has taken action. This means that no changes to the existing precautionary gritting routes will be made.
The Council's existing Winter Service Policy ensures that the authority can provide a service, based upon a clear prioritisation of the highway network, which recognises the significant challenges faced by residents and businesses in travelling safely throughout Calderdale during the winter months.
Calderdale Council's Cabinet has listened to the concerns of residents and businesses about the proposed changes, and the decision approved at Calderdale's Budget Council in February 2024 will not now be enacted.
The Council faces unprecedented budget challenges this year and next, and the changes to winter gritting were part of a package of budget savings agreed and consulted upon back in February.
It is recognised that whilst alternative actions will be considered to achieve efficiencies in service delivery, these are unlikely to reduce the pressures on the winter gritting budget. These pressures will to be need addressed when setting the Council's budget for 2025/26 in February 2025.
The Leader of the Council, Cllr Jane Scullion, said, "The impact of severe weather creates extreme challenges in Calderdale in keeping residents safe.
"We understand this and have listened. We pride ourselves on keeping people safe, whilst also balancing our budget in tough times as we must do legally. We will think again, consider what other ways we can achieve these savings, and put these options to all councillors to consider when we launch our proposed budget in the new year, and when we approve our final budget in February 2025."
Calderdale Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Transport, Cllr Sarah Courtney said, "Our main priority has always been public safety during the winter months, and delivering the best service we can within available resources.
"It's not possible for us to grit every street and road. Whilst the proposed changes agreed at Budget Council earlier this year meet our statutory duties as a highway authority, we have carefully considered the large volume of concerns we have received from local residents, and have decided not to enact the proposed changes to our Winter Service.
"We have asked officers to undertake further work on efficiencies over coming weeks, and will seek to maximise our scarce resources the best we can. This will not lead to any reduction in the current precautionary gritting routes.
"We recognise these actions will not address the financial pressures caused by delivering our current winter service in Calderdale, with its steep-sided hills and valleys. This means we will need to consider further alternative savings, at an unprecedented and difficult time for local councils, as we set the Council budget next year."
The Council continues to encourage use of grit bins for those residents that qualify for one.
The Council will be writing to all households affected over the next week to ensure they are fully informed of this revised position.
For more information on the Council's Winter Service, including a list of which roads are on the Council's gritting routes, visit this web page.