Kirklees councillors debate whether more should have been done when snow hit

Schools were closed, bin collections cancelled or missed, and roads and pavements froze over as temperatures plummeted and the borough was covered in snow and ice earlier this month.

Going into the latest full council meeting, the topic was fresh in the minds of several members who were left with questions.

Councillor John Taylor (Con, Kirkburton) wanted to know whether the cabinet believed the council’s response was good enough and how lessons would be learned.

He praised the teams working to ease the conditions but said they could only do their best within the budgets provided.

“We’ve attempted to put more money into winter maintenance through budget amendments but they’ve been voted down and now we’ve had a cold snap and I think we all across the chamber have had to help residents in various ways on various issues partly because we’d cut the budget and cut back and now we’re reaping the consequences of that.”

Cabinet member for Transport and Housing, Councillor Moses Crook, said that financial resources had “not been an issue” and “every possible effort” had been undertaken to keep the borough safe and moving.

He said: “Our officers and contractors deserve congratulating and thanking because the work they’ve put in over this cold snap has been absolutely phenomenal.

“Of course, all of our roads can’t be kept clear. We have to understand there will be some disruption when we have an extraordinary weather event like this. We had eight days where the surface of the roads didn’t get above zero and quite often was well below zero – minus six, seven, eight.”

Councillor Crook spoke of the magnitude of the work that had been carried out in the time of extreme weather, with 5,470 tonnes of grit spread on roads in just eight days – the amount normally required to last six months.

He explained that gritters had been out from 5am, with the first two hours spent covering the primary circuit – 54 per cent of road network – then moving onto secondary roads and lastly, roads on request and those required to access community buildings.

He added: “The response from that team was absolutely exemplary and I will not join in any criticism of that.”

Leader of the Conservative group, Councillor David Hall, spoke of the “horrible domino effect” which ensued as school staff and their children were unable to get to their respective places of work or education. He asked if the council could revisit the winter maintenance policy so it could encompass things like support for schools to ensure there isn’t a similar occurrence in future.

Cabinet member for Education and Communities, Councillor Amanda Pinnock, described the 24/7 “raft of support” available for schools with gritting, path clearing and issues arising with boilers and roofing as a result of the weather, dealt with on request.

She said that a debriefing meeting would be held to look at how responses could be improved and would be a good opportunity to remind schools how to access council support.