Highland Council to rethink no pre-gritting after outcry
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HIGHLAND Council has agreed to rethink controversial plans to scrap evening pre-gritting on hundreds of miles of major roads next winter.
The plan to stop gritting in the evening on quiet roads where less than 20 vehicles drive through the night was put on hold when councillors met today (Thursday) in Inverness.
The move comes after the North Star published a list of the routes which may have been affected by the move. Miles of roads would not get gritted until the next morning between 8.30am and 9am if monitoring showed there were less than 20 cars passing through the night.
Dingwall and Seaforth councillor Graham MacKenzie, who chairs the community services committee, said previously that in the experience of the winter maintenance crew, gritting those routes up until 9pm was "like throwing money onto the roads" because more than 20 cars are needed to spread the salt and make it effective.
But he told members today that the level of public outcry had been so high following the publication of the potential roads hit-list that it was best to reconsider this move.
Cllr Mackenzie said: "Given the concerns expressed by the public and indeed across the chamber I propose that we should refer this proposal to full council and at this time we will not pursue this saving."
Members agreed to the move and the matter will now be debated at the full council meeting in March.
The council’s road officials are still going to be monitoring traffic on the long list of routes over the coming months, however.
And the move could still go ahead. If it does it would save cash-strapped council £120,000 per year.
It is part of a wider winter maintenance budget cut of nearly £700,000, which was agreed when the budget was set in December.
Aird and Loch Ness councillor Margaret Davidson told the meeting: "Do not delude yourselves. People concerns are not about the £120,000 for pre-gritting. They are about the total of three-quarters-of-a-million pounds which is intended to take out of the gritting budget next year."
