Aberdeenshire Council has lack of grit to cope with additional spells of winter weather
Weather warnings over the weekend for Storm Eowyn expected to bring more snow to Aberdeenshire, however the council was glad it didn’t come to anything.
This is because the local authority doesn’t have any spare grit to cope with additional spells of heavy snow and freezing temperatures.
Harsher conditions last year meant the council had to rely on its reserves – the extra salt and grit set aside in case of emergencies.
But, this is no longer an option as councillor Alan Turner said: “There is no reserve in terms of winter maintenance.
“If I took it on average, we have used 41,000 tonnes of salt annually over the last three years.
“Last year I would say was more severe than normal, hence we ended up into using all the reserves.”
Currently, the local authority is looking at an overspend of £6.5 million for the year along with a predicted £26m budget gap.
Aberdeenshire Council can spend between £4-9 million on providing services over the winter.
Ahead of setting last year’s budget, Mr Turner said the price of salt had increased.
Twelve months on, the infrastructure services committee chairman revealed that cost has jumped again, having an unwanted knock-on effect on the council’s coffers.
“Salt prices have gone up by another 12 per cent so it’s roughly £50 per tonne for salt right now,” he stated.
But, he admitted the local authority set aside a bigger budget for winter maintenance this year compared to the last.
The council typically uses 1000 tonnes of salt per day when the weather is particularly bad.
Mr Turner said that the council received 8000 tonnes of salt over the last two weeks, getting its stocks back up to normal levels.
Aberdeenshire Council has 44 gritters and 300 members of staff who go out in the early hours to ensure the region can keep moving during the winter.
There are also 120 farmers who lend a helping hand with plowing, along with 93 snow wardens.
Gritters are sent out to clear 32 priority routes – that’s 1090 miles of road network and equates to 33 per cent of Aberdeenshire’s total roads.
On top of that, around 50 pavement gritters are deployed to cover some 62 miles of pavements with grit.
But, Mr Turner admitted it is tough to predict how much salt is needed every year.
“It’s all very much about response and reaction to a weather forecast – it is a fundamental challenge to get everything done in time.
“Winter is not the easiest thing to actually estimate ahead of time as to the severity and how prolonged it is.
“We cannot unfortunately cover every road and deal with every single thing so we have to prioritise it.”
Back in October, Aberdeenshire Council launched a public consultation for residents to comment on services that could be changed, reduced or ended for good.
One of these potential measures was cutting back on the number of grit bins provided across the region.
There are currently around 1800 of them across Aberdeenshire, the locations of which can be found online and on the MyAberdeenshire app.
“We review them in terms of where they are, our plan is not to remove all of the grit bins,” Mr Turner said.
“But, we will continue to optimise where they are located so it is sufficient for what is deemed fair and necessary.”
At a recent meeting of full council, councillor Ann Ross queried the potential change.
“I’d like to know whether the risks of slips, trips and falls has been taken into consideration and the cost of attendance at A&E for the NHS?” she asked.
“The council leader said we must look after the most vulnerable in our communities, I would suggest that this is a very disappointing saving.”
But infrastructure director Alan Wood fired back: “We are not removing or reducing grit bins, however with the financial restraints we’ve got, the refilling of these is something we are looking at.
“We are looking for the contents of those bins to be used appropriately, which is not for private use but for public use.”
Another potential change mentioned in the budget consultation was cutting back on bridge repairs.
However, Mr Turner stated that the council will continue with its “very important” bridges workbank prioritisation programme.
This allows officers to monitor the 1311 bridges across the region and carry out repairs where they are needed most.
“We prioritise them through a variety of different things – how it is used, frequency, and what are alternative bridges to that particular one,” he explained.
Two community engagement sessions have recently been held on Aboyne Bridge which was closed in 2023 due to concerns it wasn’t strong enough to carry vehicles.
Mr Turner explained these events allowed the council to report back to the community and explain the work that has been done with consultants on potential options for the bridge.
Aboyne is currently second on the bridge prioritisation list, Banff is number one – but what is going on there?
“We are at the tender stage for doing the ratification works on it,” Mr Turner revealed.
“Our overall challenge will always be in terms of we need funding from the Scottish Government to help us with our capital programmes.”
When it comes to maintaining Aberdeenshire’s many miles of roads, Mr Turner says the council’s biggest hurdle is managing expectations of the public.
But while the roads budget was slightly higher this year than last, the local authority will continue to prioritise urgent repairs over anything else.
These urgent fixes will aim to be sorted within 24-hours, but minor defects will simply be monitored over time.
“When it comes to reporting and repairing potholes, that will always be the most important thing to that particular person,” he said.
“I’m an engineer by profession, that means I like to fix things.
“My father worked for the roads department for well over 20 years so I like to see things being done and money spent on our roads but I’m also conscious of the fact that we are challenged financially.”