Review of Road Salting

"Salt Cell", the UK's emergency planning coordination body for road salt supplies has identified that there is little chance of salt supplies equalling demand for at least the next five days.

Prior to the current unusually long spell of wintry weather Monmouthshire County Council had full stocks of road salt, amounting to 7500 tonnes. Demand on this stock has been intense since the wintry weather set in before Christmas. We have salted 1600km (995 miles) of roads up to three times per day. In the last three days, this has totalled 6000km (3728 miles) - equivalent to a return trip to Voronezh in Russia.

We ordered new stocks of salt before Christmas, but these have still not arrived. Supplies are being co-ordinated nationally by the National Assembly for Wales and Local Authorities that have lower stocks of salt than us are being prioritised. Ironically, therefore, our excellent state of preparation for this spell of bad weather means that at the current level of usage we will be in danger of running out of road salt before we can be re-supplied.

We are aware that further snowfalls are forecast for Sunday and Monday. Given this we have revised our forward planning and will start to ration our supplies of salt.

We have decided that with effect from tonight (7^th January), we will conserve our salt stocks as follows:

• We will continue to salt primary routes, but the weather forecast through to Sunday means that we will only be salting twice a day rather than the current three times a day

• We will discontinue routine salting on non priority rural routes from tonight

• We will continue to concentrate resources on clearing urban roads and pavements, but using a lower grade of grit to conserve salt supplies

• The county's 2500 roadside salt / grit bins will continue to be stocked, but we will use a lower grade of grit

We will, of course, endeavour to respond to critical need on a case by case basis.

Cllr Bryan Jones, Monmouthshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure, said:

"Monmouthshire was very well prepared for this weather and our staff have done incredible work keeping our main roads clear - including working through the night most of the past three weeks - including over Christmas. But we have paid a price for being so well prepared and have been unable to get fresh supplies of grit, despite ordering it before Christmas. So we need to be sensible and forward plan, especially as more snow is forecast."

He continued:

"I know that some people in more rural parts of the county are concerned that their roads haven't been gritted. But we have to be realistic and we have to be sensible. Our 20 gritter / snowploughs have been out on a three shift basis practically every day that there's has been snow. We have kept our primary routes open and have been able to respond to emergencies as and when they arise. Our staff, those who drive the vehicles and those who support them in the depots and on the telephones, deserve huge thanks from us all for keeping us safe and mobile."