Published: Thursday, 7th January, 2010 7:35am

Council insists its 'business as usual' despite grit shortage

by Gary Fitzpatrick

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A car lies abandoned in Blake Street, Dunfermline, after losing control. No-one was injured.

FIFE COUNCIL'S transport chairman Tony Martin maintained it was "business as usual" this week with no end in sight to the big freeze which has threatened to bring West Fife grinding to a halt.

The local authority ran out of grit, roads were closed, motorists risked hazardous conditions, injuries from falls soared, schools were shut but Mr Martin still insisted, "It's very much business as usual" - a claim set to be taken with a pinch of salt by many.

Mr Martin's comment came on Tuesday when hundreds of West Fife high school pupils were unable to return to the classroom after the festive break.

Another heavy snowfall brought more road chaos yesterday (Wednesday) and the closure of several primary schools and nurseries.

Tributes have been paid to the hard work put in by council workers in difficult conditions, not just those in the gritters but others such as care workers who have fought their way through the snow to attend to the elderly.

For the past three weeks non-priority roads, side streets and pavements have been left untreated because there is not enough grit.

The situation worsened this week and the Scottish Government had to step in to stop the council from running out of salt altogether.

Extra theatre sessions have been needed at hospitals to cope with the number of fall casualties with fractures, breaks and soft tissue damage.

Those being treated at the Kingdom's two A&E departments for injuries from slips and falls between 23rd and 29th December was up by 12 per cent on the previous year.

In Dunfermline, the busy thoroughfare Victoria Terrace was closed because of ice and snow packed around road humps.

Council leader Peter Grant said yesterday (Wednesday), "I can understand the frustrations people feel about the side streets and pavements.

"If we diverted the gritters into the side streets then there would be the chance of the main roads not being clear.

"We are also pointing out that even when main roads have been cleared driving conditions can still be hazardous because we have had four or five snowfalls some days."

There appears to be more confidence over grit supplies now that the Scottish Government has provided a safety net.

On Monday, Finance Secretary John Swinney said, "There continues to be a substantial supply of salt and grit available across Scotland - with stocks currently standing at well over 40,000 tonnes - but of course we recognise that there are pinch points in different parts of the country and we are working as hard as we can to alleviate any difficulties."

The previous day, Labour MSP John Park contacted Scottish transport minister Stewart Stevenson calling for him to intervene to help Fife through its grit shortage.

Mr Park said, "The condition of the roads and pathways across Fife during the festive season has been diabolical.

"I'm sure most people will know someone who has slipped or fell because of poorly treated underfoot conditions.

"A situation like this cannot be allowed to develop ever again and that is why I have written to Stewart Stevenson to ask what support the Scottish Government is giving Fife Council to address the problem."

He added, "The people of Fife expect better and having enough grit to make our roads safer at this time of year is a very basic obligation."

Councillor Martin said he understood the anger of local people but did not feel they had been let down by Fife Council.

However, he felt that "more robust systems and procedures" had to be put in place. He said these procedures had worked all the years Fife Council had been in existence but had been found wanting on this occasion.

Mr Martin, the councillor for Dunfermline South, like other elected representatives, has been inundated with calls from angry constituents about the state of the streets and pavements.

He said, "I don't think people are asking too much of the council.

"Most people are saying 'Fill our grit boxes and we'll clear our own streets' and that's what we've been unable to do.

"The council has coped as best as it could in a very difficult situation and the workers on the gritters have done a great job in the circumstances.

"Having said that, I have asked for an inquiry so that lessons can be learned and we make sure we don't end up in the same situation again in future.

"That could be not having just one supplier, for example, but we can't pre-judge that inquiry.

"Other local authorities have also been very badly affected but we have been more up-front and open about our situation in Fife."

The return to school was delayed for hundreds of West Fife schoolchildren and problems with the late posting of closure information on the Fife Council website only added to the confusion.

In Dunfermline, two high schools - Woodmill and St Columba's - were closed on Tuesday while the other two, Queen Anne and Dunfermline High, were open.

The council's internet information system failed with the closure of St Columba's only being posted on the website and texted to parents at 6am on Tuesday - even though the school's head had decided the previous afternoon that the poor condition of the bus park meant it could not open.

Education chair Douglas Chapman said, "I know the decisions to close were taken after talks with the police about safety access issues such as the buses."

Yesterday, all the high schools were open but Aberdour, Culross, Park Road, Saline and St John's primaries were closed.

The Scottish Government had to step in on Monday with a delivery of 250 tonnes of salt to stop Fife running out of supplies altogether.

Another delivery of 500 tonnes arrived in Fife on Tuesday and the same amount yesterday (Wednesday) to keep the gritters running but the minimum acceptable level set by the council is 3500 tonnes.

MP Willie Rennie said, "It's quite clear mistakes have been made but there will time to look back at what's happened later.

"Now is not the time when we could face another crisis of running out of grit again by the end of the week.

"I have alerted John Swinney of this as he has said there is enough grit to go around that he is co-ordinating the distribution."

Labour's Fife leader Alex Rowley called for the council to issue an apology to the public admitting the failure of its winter gritting policy.

He thanked the Scottish Government for intervening and added, "This saved Fife from a major disaster.

"When the council issued a statement at the weekend saying it had run out of grit and asking motorists to drive carefully then they had lost control.

"Whatever measure you use, the officers in charge of strategy on this issue have failed the people of Fife spectacularly.

"The first priority is to get through this situation and we should thank the tremendous efforts of the workers gritting the roads and others such as care workers who fought through the snow to get to work and help the elderly and the vulnerable."

Lib Dem MSP Jim Tolson said, "Rather than claiming that 'Fife Council has lost control' I would suggest that it is Mr Rowley who has lost control.

"With his experience, he should know full well that main roads, especially bus routes, have to be constantly re-gritted to keep them clear.

"If this had not been done, I'm sure the headlines would be of dozens of crashed buses and hundreds of cars with injuries to the occupants and possibly pedestrians as a result.

"It is in fact the case that the hard work of the dedicated council staff has been crucial in avoiding such a catastrophe."

Dunfermline North councillor Bill McCulloch said, "I am amazed that the council does not have sufficient supplies to deal with a cold spell such as this.

"This clearly suggests a failure of effective forward planning and risk management.

"But I also have to say that the gritting of priority roads in this area has not been well managed either.

"Evdience of this, as one example, was the abandonment of many cars on Wednesday last week on Whitefield Road, the main road to the Queen Margaret Hospital. If this is not a priority, what is?"

Dunfermline Central councillor Willie Sullivan said, "I've been receiving calls from people who had initially called the council's emergency line and been put on to me.

"I would have been happy to go and help people but there was no grit.

"Everyone at the council had gone off on holiday when Fife was facing a crisis.

"The council chiefs are happy to take these huge salaries but are not around when they're needed.

"I had a phone call from a worker at Stephen's the Bakers in Abbeyview saying she had seen five old people falling that day."

Oakley councillor Bobby Clelland said, "We've still got old folk stuck in their homes scared to go out on the ice and snow.

"In Oakley, Valleyfield, Kincardine and the other villages out here the conditions are a disgrace.

All kinds of salt are in demand during this freeze-up with supermarkets struggling to keep up their supplies as shoppers look for ways of keeping their paths and drives clear and resorting to using table salt.

A spokesman for Asda said yesterday, "We're out of salt again. It's been flying off the shelves since this cold spell started around 18th December."