Shropshire Schools Helpline Volunteers Praised

A team of Shropshire Council volunteers who helped to inform parents about school closures during the recent bad weather have been praised for their efforts.

During spells of bad weather parents are able to call the council’s ‘Snowline’ to find out if their child’s school is closed that day.

Between Wednesday 6 and Thursday 14 January a small team of volunteers were at Shirehall in Shrewsbury at 6.30am each day to help deliver the Snowline service, and to make sure that the council website provided the latest school closures information.

The Snowline was also activated on the afternoon of Wednesday 13 January when many schools opted to close early due to the heavy snow.

In total more than 30 people helped deliver the Snowline service over this period.

Figures show that between 6 and 14 January more than 3600 calls were made to the Snowline, with more than 1100 of these being made on just Wednesday 6 January. During this period there were a total of almost 200 school closures in the Shropshire Council area.

Councillor Keith Barrow, Leader of Shropshire Council, said: “Due to the extreme weather of the past two weeks a large number of our schools had to take the difficult decision to close, or to close early.

However, despite the snow, ice and cold weather our team of dedicated volunteers came into Shirehall early each day to help provide this vital service. I would like to thank them for their efforts in helping to keep parents informed.”

Salt Briefing 18 Jan

The recent improved weather conditions has meant the council’s hard working gritting teams have been out less often, resulting in less salt being used.

The council would like to reassure people that the highway teams still have supplies of salt despite the national shortage. The council has approximately 1,300 tonnes of salt remaining, which dependent on weather is enough to continue to grit all of Shropshire’s A and B roads and agreed priority routes for around three days. The council is also sourcing salt from other suppliers.

The council has so far kept ahead of the national shortage, due to the good preparation made by the council during 2009. Shropshire Council stored nearly double the Government’s recommendations of salt stocks. Following last winter, central Government recommended that every council should have six days resilience during the core winter period, however in December 2009 the council had at least 12 days. The council had kept large salt stockpiles in preparation for the winter, 15,000 tonnes was acquired during summer 2009.

Shropshire Council maintains a network of 5100 km/3169 miles of road and approximately 1200 km/745 miles of footways and cycleways. Last year the council spent £2.5 million on treating the network during the winter.

Shropshire Council is still able to fulfil its commitment to keep all A and B roads and agreed high risk routes open, as agreed in the council’s Winter Maintenance policy statement. This policy aims to keep Shropshire moving and ensure that major routes are kept open.

Central Government has instructed Shropshire Council to reduce its gritting by a further 25% as part of a national effort to conserve salt. In order to meet this instruction the council is reducing the spread rate and is introducing 25% grit into their salt mix. This grit will help improve grip on the roads during the expected icy conditions as well as conserving salt stocks.

On 6 January 2010 central Government set up Salt Cell. It is now advising on national priorities for salt deliveries to help ensure stocks of salt are prioritised where most needed. We are unable to confirm when further supplies are to be delivered, as this is a central Government decision. However, in the meantime the council is looking at other suppliers to replenish stocks.

Shropshire Council is continuing to replenish the 800 grit bins across the county and local people are encouraged to make use of these bins and salt piles to keep their local roads open. Shropshire Council would like to remind people that this grit should only be used on public roads and footpaths, and not on private driveways or properties. The council is endeavouring to refill the bins as quickly as possible, however with current demands the council’s teams ask people to bear with them as they work their way around all of the bins.

Shropshire Council is postponing the salt briefings until further serious winter weather.

Severe Weather Helping Others

We have been experiencing severe weather that has been leaving parts of the country colder than the south pole and although the weather has been a little more clement but there are predictions of more cold weather to come; I believe that it is especially important in these conditions to make sure that any vulnerable people that we know such as the elderly or disabled are safe and well.

The weather has also caused problems with people unable to get their grocery shopping, prescriptions etc and I personally have helped by collecting much needed items for those unable to do so themselves due to the hazadous weather conditions.

I would ask everybody who has a vulnerable friend, neighbour or family member to check in on them on a regular basis and do whatever you can to make sure that they have everything they need.

Something as small as picking up a carton of milk or loaf of bread for someone on your next trip to the supermarket can make all of the difference.

The recent events in the town have already proven the amazing community spirit that exists in Shrewsbury and I am certainly proud to be part of a community that looks out for each other and knows that the simplest thing can make a big difference in someones life.

Shropshire Refuse Collection Update Brief

With the continued disruption to refuse collection services and further snowfall forecast we feel it will be helpful to send you a daily update on the collection situation whilst the difficult weather conditions continue.
Friday 8th Jan.

Collection area	Percentage of collections made
Shrewsbury and Atcham	50%
South Shropshire	30%
Bridgnorth	90%
Oswestry	60%
North Shropshire	95%

Monday 11th January.

Collection area	Percentage of collections made	Particular issues
Shrewsbury and Atcham	95% of residual waste collected in urban areas	Only 40% of green and recycling collected in Montford Bridge and Nesscliffe areas
South Shropshire	10% of residual waste collected in Church Stretton 20% of residual waste collected outside of Church Stretton 90% residual waste collected in Ludlow All separate food waste collections in Ludlow made.	The green waste collection due this week in South Shropshire (commencing 11th January) has been replaced with a residual waste collection. However despite extensive press and media coverage only 20% of households presented the residual bin. Veolia are attempting to collect recycling bins by sending the crews out again but success will depend upon time available and weather conditions. REMEMBER RESIDUAL ONLY IN SOUTH SHROPSHIRE FOR WEEK BEGINNING 11th JAN AND NORMAL CALENDAR NEXT WEEK.
Bridgnorth	60% residual waste collected in Highley 80% of Green waste collected in Bridgnorth urban 50% of Green Waste collected in Bridgnorth rural
Oswestry	75% of residual waste collected in Oswestry Town Centre 50% residual collected in St Martins 90% residual collected in Trefonen 75% residual collected in Porth-y-waen and area	Only 20% of residual waste collected in rural areas close to the Welsh border.
North Shropshire	75% collected	Side roads remain difficult

Tuesday 12th January.

Collection area	Problems anticipated.
Shrewsbury and Atcham	Church Pulverbatch and Long Mynd collections of green waste and recycling unlikely.
South Shropshire	Continued difficulties in Church Stretton
Bridgnorth	Green waste collections for Highley and Claverley difficult.
Oswestry	High Lea collection unlikely
North Shropshire	Side roads continue to cause problems Buntingsdale Estate anticipated to be difficult.

As a general note the condition of roads are very specific and some roads in the same area will be safe and others not.  Accordingly residents in neighbouring street may be affected differently. The decision on whether a road and/or footpath is sufficiently safe to make a collection must be made by the driver of the vehicle, who is the senior member of the collection team, and also has the best information, being at the site.

Officers are in contact with every depot twice daily to get an update on the situation and the success of collection will depend very much on the very local circumstances.

We have also received the first feedback from the collections in South Shropshire where green waste rounds have been suspended in favour of dedicating more vehicles to residual (mixed household) waste.  It would appear that 80% of properties in South Shrops on scheduled green waste collection rounds had only put out green waste bins and therefore had not received the message sent out via radio (Sunshine FM, Beacon, Radio Shropshire) two local papers, Town & Parish Councils, the Council website and the Customer Service Centre (CSC).

Residents are advised to stick to their regular collection schedule both in terms of the day of collection and on the types of waste that will be collected.  Side waste will be taken on that day, which will allow for the backlog to be cleared.  Also, in relation to this, waste should be separated into the appropriate bin i.e. only green waste and cardboard in the green bin.

This message has been sent out via radio stations, the web site, the CSC, and in several press releases.  It has also been communicated to town and parish councils via SALC.

Currently it is our opinion that to collect recyclable waste and mix it with waste destined for landfill would be confusing and counter-productive in the long run.

I also attach the frequently asked questions that have been provided to the customer service centre that hopefully give you information to answer most enquiries.

We are continuing to monitor the situation on a very local level and will review our approach as circumstances develop.

FAQ

Emergency Waste Collections – General Questions

(This does not apply to South Shropshire)

What should residents do now if their bins have not been collected?

Proceed as normal. Please take your bin/boxes in and put your waste out on the next scheduled day as per your collection calendar.

What if the waste will not fit in the bin or the bin is overflowing?

As this is an emergency situation, we will accept additional side waste in bags on the next scheduled collection, this should be of the same type of material (ie. General household waste with your household bin and garden waste and cardboard with your garden waste bin.  The same also applies with your kerbside recycling boxes).

If my bin has not been emptied, should I leave my bin out?

No.  Please take your bin in and put it out on the next scheduled day of collection. (Except in South Shropshire)

Why can’t vehicles access the side roads when I can drive my car down the road?

The collection vehicles are large heavy vehicles that are stopping and starting along the route.  The implications of loss of control of these vehicles is much greater than for a car and the safety of residents and crews is our priority.

Although we really this is an important service we have to put this into perspective of health and safety of the general public.

If I can walk from my house to my vehicle along the pavement why can’t the refuse collectors?

On average the refuse collectors have to walk at least 12 miles a day on each round pulling bins and carrying recycling boxes.  Therefore they are more exposed to the hazards of icy pavements than most residents.

Why has my refuse been collected but my recycling boxes haven’t?

It is more difficult to keep balance if the operatives are carrying recycling boxes.  If they slip they have no hands free to steady themselves.

SOUTH SHROPSHIRE AREA ONLY

• Some parts of South Shropshire have been impassable for over three weeks which means that some residents have already missed two collections.
• Therefore, in the South Shropshire area we are suspending garden waste collections next week so that we can make additional refuse collections.
• From 11 January we are asking residents in the South Shropshire area only to put their general household waste bin or black bag out on their scheduled collection day and leave it out until it is emptied, which maybe later in the week

General points

• There are a range of bring sites across the county as well as six Household recycling centres for recycling materials.
• We collect from 131,000 properties across the county every week
• These are extreme weather conditions

Salt Briefing 08 January

Shropshire Council would like to reassure people that the highways teams still have supplies of salt despite the national shortage.

The council’s gritters have been out in force last night (7 January) and in the early hours of this morning to ensure that the county’s A and B roads and other high risk routes are gritted.

Although Shropshire Council has kept large salt stockpiles in preparation for the winter (15,000 tonnes was acquired during summer 2009), a national salt shortage is meaning salt replenishment is being delayed. However the council would like to stress that they still have 2,700 tonnes of salt remaining, which dependent on weather is enough to continue to grit all of Shropshire’s A and B roads and agreed priority routes for around six days. The council is also contacting other suppliers including in Europe to acquire more salt.

On the 6 January 2010 central Government set up Salt Cell. They are now advising on national priorities for salt deliveries to help ensure stocks of salt are prioritised where most needed.

Shropshire Council is still able to fulfil its commitment to keep all A and B roads and agreed high risk routes open, as agreed in the council’s Winter Maintenance policy statement. This policy aims to keep Shropshire moving and ensure that major routes are kept open.

The council is so far keeping ahead of the national shortage, due to the good preparation made by the council during 2009. Shropshire Council had nearly double the Government’s recommendations of salt stocks. Following last winter central Government recommended that every council should have six days resilience during the core winter period, however in December 2009 the council had at least 12 days.

Shropshire Council maintains a network of 5100km/3169 miles of road and approximately 1200km/745 miles of footways and cycleways. Last year the council spent £2.5million on treating the network during the winter.

The council is introducing 25% grit into their salt mix. This grit will help improve grip on the roads during the expected icy conditions as well as conserving salt stocks.

Major roads across the county are passable with care. However motorists should take extra care when driving along minor roads which are often ungritted. In all cases the council encourages people to drive according to the road conditions and to take care.

Shropshire Council continues to replenish the 800 grit bins across the county and local people are encouraged to make use of these bins and salt piles to keep their local roads open.

During the snowy weather many of our 100 snowploughs, which are a combination of contractors and local farmers have been out clearing the snow especially in south Shropshire.

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