More grit is needed in Brighton and Hove to cope when the weather turns cold, say councillors pushing for action on behalf of people living on the edges of Brighton and Hove.
In a motion due to go before the full council next Thursday (31 January), Green councillor Raphael Hill and Brighton and Hove Independent Mark Earthey call for a report to the cabinet to find more sites for grit bins and grit drops.
Grit bins across Brighton and Hove were reported to have been filled with litter when residents went to use them in the recent cold snap.
During the snow on Wednesday 8 January there were several complaints about a lack of gritting on the roads.
But Brighton and Hove City Council said that any grit would have been washed away by the rain before the snow came.
Councillors Hill and Earthey said that the council needed to do better. And they said that there was a need to change the phasing of traffic lights at key junctions to deal with changing traffic patterns during snow.
Anecdotal evidence including social media posts suggested that the area quickly became gridlocked during the recent snowfall.
The motion said: “Recent heavy snowfall this January led to outlying parts of the city becoming disconnected from outside due to issues with putting grit on roads.
“The current gritting priority list does not take account of gradient which is only a factor in considering where to put grit bins.”
When it comes to gritting the roads, priority is given to main roads and bus routes.
The pair also want councillors to note the difficulty experienced by people walking on ungritted pavements and the effect of the changing climate, resulting in more extreme weather events.
Their motion asks officers to seek resident feedback about how the council dealt with the heavy snowfall through a consultation.
Councillors are also asked to thank people in the community who came out to help others during the snow, particularly farmers who rescued cars in Woodingdean.
The meeting of the full council is due to start at 4.30pm next Thursday (30 January) at Hove Town Hall. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
Brighton and Hove City Councillors need more grit generally. And a backbone in most cases. How can an individual be a valid Councillor if their votes and decisions are Party-whipped rather than representing the needs and wishes of their electorate? Utter conflict of interests. I used to vote Labour but never again.
Regrettably most councillors do not have the training required to effectively comment on a council undertaking Those responsible need training
No point putting out more grit bins if the ones we already have are empty. You would think 1st of November every year a manager would send a truck around to check them all… Maybe I’m living in a parallel universe
Over the past five years, Brighton has experienced minimal snowfall. The most significant event occurred in March 2018, when the ‘Beast from the East’ brought substantial snow to the region. Since then, snowfall has been rare, with only light dustings reported in early 2021.
That’s a good point Benjamin. What this means is that we have paid for the storage and maintenance of the specialist vehicles that spread the grit at a not inconsiderable cost, but when, on the one occasion in approximately five years the grit has been required, it has not been spread. This is hardly an optimum use of resources.
The comments made by the councillors about ‘rain washing the grit away’ is embarrassing. Gritting has been carried out for years and there is nearly always rain before snowfall but it remains effective. People would have more sympathy with simple mistakes if councillors held their hands up and owned them as opposed to trying to deflect responsibility. Hopefully they will learn from this error of judgement.
The lack of gritting on the A27 was a serious mistake by National Highways – you never see gritting left to the last moment on the motorways and the A27 (Falmer Hil and surrounding areas) are the same situation. Highways gritting procedures need review to ensure that type of failing does not occur again, it was a disgrace and I was in the thick of it.
The council is failing to adequately replenish the bins already in place. The excuse will be, We haven’t had this bad weather in years. On that basis they have had plenty of time to maintain the salt bins. The council itself needs an overhaul. In any other job they would get sacked. Stop spending tax payer money on things like the i360 just as an example. A huge amount would of been saved. Who allows this to happen? why are they paid so much for failing the people that pay everything that they don’t do and still want the tax payer to pay more. They don’t give us a proper explanation to why but they will just blame the last lot. It really doesn’t take a mathematical genius to work it out. It needs an independent department inside the council to address the issues that we all face. Salt bins, road maintenance, mederia terrace, road side collections bins and so on. As it stands, they are not doing what they are paid for by the tax payer. So stop any bonuses until it is sorted.
Most of the councillors are paid a pittance, which sort of explains things. Plus the “independent department” you refer to is exactly what council officers are supposed to do.
The real answer, as always, is that they bet they wouldn’t need the money this specific year and allocated it elsewhere. The council itself is broke and always cutting Peter to fund Paul. We just see it when their bets are misplaced, and they end up losing the pot (or, in the case of the i360, about fifty million quid).
While I understand the frustration, I think it’s important to consider some of the practical challenges the council faces, especially during sudden adverse weather. The recent rain would have made gritting ineffective, as mentioned in the article.
Regarding the i360, while it has been controversial, its funding and maintenance are managed separately from weather-response budgets, so doesn’t make sense in this context.
I agree that there’s room for improvement in areas like Madeira Terrace and road maintenance, but these are often constrained by budget cuts and competing priorities, important to note the general lack of funding towards councils nationwide meaning they are having to do more with less.
The police should block Bear road from both ends as they did with Warren road. Watching the sheer danger even for wheel drive vehicles was reckless and a danger to life.
It was only when a double decker bus got stuck coming up the hill that the traffic halted.
I too wish someone from the council would hold up their hands and admit a clear blunder here.
There was a ‘Yellow Warning’ for snow in our area on that day and any idiot knows you grit the roads in those circumstances – even at the risk of the rain not turning to snow or ice. You don’t take a gamble on the forecast being wrong.
Those who grit the roads will also know that some of the grit will indeed be washed away initially, and that is part of the job. It’s also part of the job to ensure high routes are gritted first.
We have to wonder too, what conversations were had with those running our bus services.
This was first year in 5 – where our road grit boxes had NOT been filled.
In our area there are 5 boxes – all mostly empty. We checked before the snowfalls for availability and there was nothing – and like others reported – full of trash.
So the Greens managed ONE (single) thing better than Labour…