Big Freeze Council Update - Monday 11th January, 9.37am

The Council plans to conduct a limited waste collection service on Monday where roads have been treated. Households where roads have been treated are asked to leave their waste out for collection. All other households are asked not to put out their waste for collection on Monday. Most schools are either open or partly open.  Recycling Centres are open. Please see below for more updates.

Weather Forecast

 

The Met Office predicts that temperatures will remain very cold, with no significant thaw expected. Road conditions are expected to remain very icy. Further snow fall is forecast during the week. As a result, road and pavement conditions will remain extremely hazardous.

 

The long-term weather forecast indicates the extremely cold weather is likely to continue for some considerable time and this will continue to adversely impact on Council services.

 

The Council advises anybody to plan carefully for any journeys and keep a close eye on the weather forecast. The Council is liaising with partners such as police, fire and the NHS Primary Care Trust to coordinate efforts.

 

Highways update

 

Because of the long-term weather forecast it is considered prudent to continue to ration the available supplies for priority routes. There is a national shortage of salt and it is understood that the supply chain can only meet one fifth of the national demand.

 

Council crews filled grit bins on Thursday/ Friday last week in response to customer reports to Council Connect. The Council does rely upon the public to tell us when grit bins are empty and we can be contacted 24 hours a day on the Council Connect line. Because of the weekend weather the Council concentrated its efforts on gritting so there was a very limited grit bin refilling service over the weekend.

 

The Council gritting fleet will treat prioritised routes on Monday, and prepare snow ploughs if required. All major routes remain open. An emergency gritting vehicle will be available around the clock to tackle any specific problems on the main network.

 

Key transport routes and roads to key facilities like hospitals have been gritted and are passable with care. Because the Council must focus its resources on these priority routes, side roads will not be gritted and there will be very limited salting of pavements. The Council will continue to monitor road conditions and will provide additional salting and gritting on priority routes when required.

 

In the Lansdown, Bannerdown and Weston areas there was light snow over the weekend and a minor problem with snow being blown in to drifts. Crews have attended and we do not anticipate any closures. Further snow may cause more localised drifting.

 

People are asked not to travel to the Council Salt Barn in Clutton to request salt because of the need to prioritise our stocks for key transport routes. We suggest visiting your local builder’s merchants.

 

Members of the Public should contact the Police direct with road closure requests. The Council does not have the powers to make emergency closures of roads in these circumstances. The Council works closely with the emergency services and if we are requested by the Police to close a road we will implement a physical closure as far as our resources permit.

 

Public spaces and Car Parks

 

Council staff will be redeployed onto snow clearing if required to keep shopping areas and car parks clear once priority routes have been attended to. However, there will be very limited salting in these areas until the further supplies of salt can be guaranteed.

 

Drivers are asked to drive and park their vehicles considerately during the cold weather. They should consider how their parking will affect the pedestrian use of road safety measures like zebra crossings and dropped kerbs.

 

Schools Update

 

Most schools are either open or partly open. The latest schools information can be found at www.bathnes.gov.uk/schoolclosures Parents/ guardians can also listen to their local radio station for information.

 

If a school is open, parents/ guardians should assume that Council-run transport to and from the school will attempt to run.

 

Waste and Recycling

 

All Council waste and recycling collection services were cancelled on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. This was because of the conditions under foot and on side roads where heavy waste collection vehicles may have slid on ice and could have seriously damaged cars and/ or seriously injured pedestrians.

 

Households that didn’t have their waste collected on these days should not leave their waste out for collection. The Council is not in a position to collect waste until a household’s next scheduled collection day if conditions allow.

 

The Council plans to conduct a limited waste collection service on Monday where roads have been treated. Households where roads have been treated are asked to leave their waste out for collection. Our drivers will be using their discretion to determine where it is safe to collect waste. All other households are asked not to put out their waste for collection on Monday.

 

Recycling Centres are open.

 

Public Transport

 

All services operating as normal except:

 

First

 

·     6/7 Bath - Larkhall is operating except not via Fairfield Park or Solsbury Way;

 

Libra Travel

 

·     94 Trowbridge – Bath is operating, omitting Park Corner, Limpley Stoke and Monkton Combe;

 

Ryans

 

·     768 Hinton Blewett - Bath is operating on main roads only and will not serve Timsbury or Clandown;

 

Somerbus

 

·     640 to Keynsham is operating but will not serve Publow, Woollard, Compton Dando or Chewton Keynsham;

·     776 to Shepton Mallett is operating via main roads (not via Holcombe or Stoke St Michael);

·     782 Norton Radstock local service is operating but not will not serve Specklemead.

 

For information on the wider public transport network, bus passengers can call Traveline on 0871 200 2233.

 

Other Services

 

Adult Services

 

If you have a vulnerable neighbour, please try and check their well-being during the cold weather.

 

We hope to open Day Centres on Monday depending on the availability of transport to and from the sites.

 

For community meals, the Council has delivered a frozen meal for Monday for those customers who are able to heat it, and frozen meals for the weekend for those customers who have these every week. Although we are delivering frozen meals as a contingency we will still attempt to deliver hot meals on weekdays.

 

The Council is encouraging carers or neighbours to those people who receive a community meal to see whether that person needs a meal, and to help them if possible.

 

Agencies commissioned by the Council to provide Home Care services have contingency plans in place. Clients or relatives are being contacted, but should call the relevant agency for more information if required. These telephone numbers can be found on www.bathnes.gov.uk/homecareproviders

 

Useful vulnerable adult telephone numbers: Community and Health Access Team at Lewis House, Bath: 01225 396000. Emergency Duty Team: 01454 615165.

 

Leisure Services

 

Aquaterra Leisure - the Council’s leisure centre contractor - are planning to open sites as usual, however some classes and courses may be cancelled and suggest people contact their local leisure centre before setting out on their journey.

 

•    Bath Sports and Leisure Centre - 01225 486905

•    Keynsham Leisure Centre - 01225 395164

•    South Wansdyke Sports Centre - 01761 415522

•    Culverhay Sports Centre - 01225 480882

 

Council Golf Courses will be closed until further notice.

 

Chew Valley Sports Centre remains open.

 

Libraries

 

There is no Mobile Library service.

 

Council Offices

 

All Council offices at Bath (Guildhall, Trimbridge House), Keynsham, and Midsomer Norton Hollies are due to open as usual Monday morning.

 

Democratic Services

 

The Council will to try to maintain its calendar of public meetings, but people are advised that because of the weather conditions these could be cancelled – check the website for more details.

 

It is highly likely that the Corporate Performance and Resources Overview & Scrutiny Panel meeting will be cancelled on Monday. For more information about that meeting, the public should call Democratic Services on 01225 394452 or 01225 477048.

 

For more information

 

1.   The Council’s website will be updated regularly to keep residents up to date about general information: www.bathnes.gov.uk

 

2.   All other enquiries should be made to Council Connect on 01225 394041 between 8am – 6pm weekdays (Wednesday 9.30am – 6pm);

 

3.   Outside of these times the Council’s Out of Office Emergency number is 01225 477 477;

 

4.   People can email on council_connect@bathnes.gov.uk or SMS text on 07797806545. These can be contacted 24 hours a day and a response will be sent next working day. These methods should not be used for emergency communication.

 

Service specific telephone numbers

 

Enquiries about Adult care transport should call 01225 394371.