Ready for winter: more salt than ever before

Shropshire Council is well prepared for winter, with extra salt in its barns and depots ready for gritting the county’s roads. 

The council ordered its salt supplies in April 2011 and it currently has 21,000 tonnes, 1,000 more tonnes more than last year. 

As well as more salt, the council has a fleet of 25 gritters and the latest weather forecasting technology.  It also has numerous farming contractors equipped with snowploughs and some with highly manoeuvrable tractor-mounted gritters to help deal with most eventualities. 

Town and parish councils also do their bit by letting the local highways teams know of particular areas where more salt is needed or where snow needs to be cleared. 

Councillor Simon Jones, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for transport, said:

“In light of last winter’s conditions we have increased our salt stocks.  This, along with our gritters and contractors, means that we are well prepared for this year’s winter weather.” 

Councillor Keith Barrow, Shropshire Council’s leader, said:

“We have enough salt to ensure our most important routes are gritted so that people can get around as safely as possible.

“However, we’d also like to encourage people to use the many grit bins we have installed across the county to clear snow and ice outside their homes.”

The council treats the defined network (important routes) before 8am and then secondary routes if resources allow. 

On top of this, there are over 850 salt bins located across the county which people can use to treat pavements and roads around where they live. 

People can see the defined network by visiting the council’s website at shropshire.gov.uk/getreadyforwinter.nsf  

The council’s winter maintenance budget for this year is £1.6million (plus a £1million contingency).  However, this could change, depending on the severity of the weather.