Working hard to keep the city running

4.09.00pm GMT Fri 8th Jan 2010

Liberal Democrat Leader of Edinburgh City Council provides an update on how the city is dealing with the record cold temperatures, snow and ice.

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We are now more than three weeks into this unprecedented cold spell and Council staff have been working around-the-clock to keep the city moving and support our vulnerable residents.

This is the worst weather we've had since 1996 and the biggest snowfall in almost 20 years. The cold weather looks set to continue.

Clearing the roads of snow and ice has been a major operation with the Council's roads team working 12 hours on and 12 hours off throughout the whole three week period. The Council operates 26 gritters on the city's roads and 12 mini tractors on footways and paths around the clock. The city's roads and pavements are divided into three categories. The first category covers the main arterial routes as well as access routes for emergency services, the second covers other main roads and connecting routes while the third category covers residential streets in local neighbourhoods. However if heavy snow starts to fall again, as has happened, then we revert back to covering the first category.

Of course we realise the huge concern residents have about untreated roads and pavements in their local area. Over 250 Council staff have been redeployed from a variety of tasks such as specialist gardening and street cleaning to focus on clearing snow in high priority areas since 5 January. These areas include routes to sheltered housing, schools, and local shopping areas. Staff have also been redeployed to assist in waste collection in areas where services have been affected due to our large refuse vehicles having problems accessing some streets.

There has been a lot of interest in our gritting schedule and so we are implementing a three-day gritting forecast from now on. For the next few days all category one and two routes will be covered as well as priority areas such as School crossing points, pedestrian crossings and access to shops.

Any spare capacity will be used to fill grit boxes and treat dangerous slopes and junctions in residential areas. We are also working with the Scottish Government to ensure salt stocks are replenished, not only within our area but across the country.

The sheer length of the cold snap and its likely continuation means we must also supplement services for our elderly and vulnerable people. We have been assessing home care and day care service requirements and providing extra support where necessary, with day services being offered within clients' homes. If you know of vulnerable people in the community who need any support then the contact number is 0131 200 2324 during normal office hours; or on weekends and out of hours on 0800 731 6964.

It's been good to hear of individuals and organisations helping to clear elderly neighbours' paths, helping with shopping or just keeping an eye out for vulnerable people. This community spirit reflects well on the people of Edinburgh and I am grateful for the hard work of Council staff and city residents during this tough time.

Advice for older residents in keeping well this winter can be found at the following sites:

http://keepwarmkeepwell.direct.gov.uk/index.html

http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/winterhealth/pages/verycoldweather.aspx

www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Our website is also being regularly updated throughout each day with the latest information posted to our Blog at http://edinburghcouncil.wordpress.com/

For other information on Council services please visit www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Councillor Jenny Dawe

Leader

City of Edinburgh Council