A Kirklees councillor has demanded action after a lack of gritting led to traffic chaos.
Leader of the council’s Liberal Democrat party and Colne Valley Clr Nicola Turner, made the request after priority routes in Scapegoat Hill and Slaithwaite were turned into an ‘ice rink’ this morning, following snow fall and a drop in temperature on Sunday night.
See your pictures as the first snow of winter 2014 fell in Huddersfield.
Clr Turner, who lives on Pike Law Road, said that many people were ‘fuming’ after the icy roads led to traffic build up and crashes.
She said: “It was absolute bedlam on the crossroads outside my house.
“It seems that no gritting has taken place at all, so my husband and I spent an hour and a half trying to help out drivers who had become stuck or bumped into each other and gritting the roads with our own grit supply.
“I called up the council and a gritter did come out but by that time it was too late.
“It should have been done before the bad weather struck and I don’t understand why they didn’t realise the area had been predicted bad weather.
“I’ve been arguing with the council for years about their policies over gritting and think that more needs to be done to tackle ice and snow on high up rural routes.
“I also think that they need to consider the type of grit they are using as I’m not convinced of its quality.”
Upper Slaithwaite was also badly hit by ice and some snow on other priority routes, including the Pole Gate junction with the A640 at the Jack O’Mitre, Tiding Field Lane down towards Wilberlee and from Clough Head to Slaithwaite via Crimble.
This is despite the council’s winter team reporting that grit had been spread along Pennine routes on Sunday evening.
Cabinet member for Highways, Steve Hall, said that he would examine the issue but believes that the council’s highways team is doing enough to tackle the problem.
He announced cutbacks in the service announced in October, including plans to not buy any more grit bins to add to the council’s stock of 1,450.
Clr Hall, said: “I’m going to look into this.
It’s unfortunate but there are going to be times where the council is caught out-we’re not perfect and I think that if the gritting team didn’t grit the area something went wrong.
“They know to grit certain places as and when it is needed and I believe they are now conducting an improved service.
“Even though the number of routes we grit has been reduced from 33 to 27, we are gritting more effectively and using better machinery.
“And as far as I’m aware, the grit that’s now being used has been tested and is a lot better quality.”
