County Councillor

Substantial cuts to road gritting programme will affect our villages in Bucks

On October 12th the gritting routes for winter were published. Substantial cuts have been made from gritting 47% of the county roads down to 34% to achieve a £200,000 budget reduction. In a letter to me Jim Stevens, Infrastructure Manager, says that Hampshire only salts 26%, Kent 28%, Wiltshire 25% and Dorset 29%, but when asked at the Local Committee what percent of the roads in Beds,Herts and Oxon are salted, which have population densities and road networks much more like Bucks, he was unable to say!

Jim Stevens says that roads no longer on the "priority salting network" will now only be "salted on a secondary basis if cold conditions persist for a period of time".

I am told that roads no longer gritted have been identified by a matrix of factors, including traffic, gradient, bends and school bus routes.

Unfortunately these factors seem to have been applied perversely in our case, as Ivinghoe Aston Hill, the Slapton bends and Long Marston Road, Cheddington, are all on school bus routes, but are no longer on the "priority salting network".

In addition in Pitstone, Vicarage Road and possibly Cheddington Road will not be gritted; the whole of Edlesborough village off the main road, and Wingrave to Leighton Buzzard.
Mentmore has never been gritted.

I have written to protest to Jim Stevens, copying in the council leaders, asking for the statistics informing the decision, and am finding out from other sources what happens in Herts.

A full roundup of division news for this quarter, including steps being taken to save Ivinghoe Youth Hostel, can be found on my blog at http://avrildavies.blogspot.com

AVRIL DAVIES

Phone: 01296 668152

E-mail: acdavies@buckscc.gov.uk

County Council Website