Public Reminded Of Council Gritting Priorities
23rd November 2010
As forecasters predict snow this week in the Highlands, The Highland Council has published on its web site route maps setting out its snow clearing and gritting priorities for local roads.
Eight leaflets outline the Council's route and footpath priorities and provide advice and contact numbers for motorists. Each leaflet provides a map of the area showing the gritting priorities of local roads. Area maps are provided for Caithness and North Sutherland; South Sutherland and Easter Ross; Skye and Lochalsh; and Badenoch and Strathspey leaflets. A leaflet for Wester Ross and the Black Isle provides maps of the gritting priorities of the two respective areas. Leaflets for Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber provide both area and town maps of gritting priorities for Inverness city, Nairn and Fort William.
Councillor John Laing, Chairman of The Highland Council's TEC Services Committee urged people in the Highlands to find out how this may affect them in the winter months to come. He said: "The Council is ready for any expected cold weather and we have plenty of grit supplies. Highland has the longest road network of any council in Scotland and it's simply not possible to treat every road at the same time so we have to prioritise which routes are treated first.
"We have produced leaflets for each area of the Highlands which have maps showing the priorities that roads in each area will receive and when people can expect to see their local roads gritted. Hopefully this will help people to be able to plan their journeys according to local weather circumstances.
"The timings of the route priorities are weather-dependent. Last winter, repeated snow falls and hard frosts meant that Priority 1 routes had to be repeatedly cleared which made it difficult to meet the timescales for priority 2, 3 and 4 routes. Motorists should remember that black roads don't necessarily mean clear roads and in severe weather conditions if your journey isn't absolutely necessary don't make it."
Copies of the leaflets and other useful information and advice on coping with winter are now available on the Council's website at: www.highland.gov.uk/winterwatch
The leaflet also explains that The Highland Council is not responsible for winter maintenance of Trunk Roads and that this responsibility lies with:
Bear Scotland on 0800 587 1107 for the A95 and A96 routes; and
Scotland Transerv 0800 028 1414 for all other trunk routes including A9, A82, A86, A87, A99 (Latheron toWick), A828, A830, A835, A887 and A889.
For information on Highland local roads contact The Highland Council on 01349 886601 8am - 6pm (Monday - Friday) and 9am - 12 noon Saturday; or 0845 769 7284 (Emergency out of hours).
Related Businesses
Related Articles
Members have considered an update on the Council's medium term financial plan and the impact of the UK and Scottish Governments’ budgets on the coming year’s funding settlement. The position is currently looking more positive than initially planned for, however more detail needs to be worked through.
In November, The Highland Council launched a public statutory consultation to seek views on the proposed introduction of a Visitor Levy scheme across the Highlands. The Council has announced an extension to this consultation period, which will now give businesses, visitors and communities until 31 March 2025, an additional seven weeks, to take part and have their say.
In the light of the financial forecast for 2025-26, Highland Council is inviting you to tell us more in the budget preparation for the coming financial year. The budget engagement builds on extensive budget participation which took place in the winter of 2023-24.
The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
Every year Highland Council invites all tenants to have their say on the rent levels for the following year. The Council encourages everyone that lives in a council house to take this chance to have their say.
Communities and Place Committee met yesterday (Wednesday 27 November 2024) and Members agreed the Highland Local Child Poverty Action Report which includes actions for delivery in 2024/25. Reducing child poverty is a priority for the Council and its partners.
The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
Members of the Highland Council's Community and Place Committee have given their support to an action plan focusing on the operating of public conveniences over the next 10 years. Whilst not a statutory function, the Council is the main provider of public conveniences located throughout Highland, operating 74 sites.
A report published on 27 November 2024 by LGIU (Local Government Information Unit) looks at the state of funding for councils by the Scottish Government. Confidence in the sustainability of council finances is critically low.
At today's (Wednesday 27 November 2024) Communities & Place Committee, Members agreed the most appropriate long-term strategic direction for residual waste management is to continue to utilise a merchant provider solution. Communities & Place Committee Chair, Cllr Graham MacKenzie said: "After careful consideration and analysis it has been agreed that a merchant provider solution is considered the most appropriate long term solution to our statutory waste management obligations, and that an energy-from- waste facility within the Highlands is not considered to be a suitable course of action.
