WREXHAM Council is ready for winter’s worst, councillors have been told.
An updated winter maintenance plan was adopted by the authority’s ruling Executive Board at its monthly meeting this week.
Lead member for the environment, Rossett Cllr Hugh Jones (Con) said minor changes had been made to the existing plan with the department stocked up on salt ready for the icy weather.
He said: “We’ve invested significant amounts of money both in terms of establishment and equipment in order for us to be able to improve the service.
“Once again I’m emphasising this is a ‘light touch’ review with a number of many small amendments.”
The council’s deputy leader, Johnstown and Pant Cllr David A Bithell (Ind) said he had recently visited the council’s Abbey Road salt store on the industrial estate and was pleased to see the improvements and enhancements there.
Grosvenor Cllr Marc Jones (Plaid) referred to the county’s 620 salt bins and asked how often they are replenished.
He said: “I’ve only got one salt bin in my ward and I’ve been asking for it to be replenished since the last cold snap we had.
“I think it would be good to make sure that salt actually gets out to the communities that need it.”
Officers explained that salt store is at full capacity, and at depots in Llay and Chirk too, with a programme to replenish salt bins ready to begin.
Leader of the council, Esclusham Cllr Mark Pritchard (Ind) acknowledged that knowing when to replace salt was difficult to judge, especially if the public dip in to use it for other purposes.
He said: “It is very difficult for the environment department and I do sympathise with them because it’s all about timing.
“If you replenish them (the bins) too early, some of the salt goes missing – people tend to take it for their own personal uses, their own drives etc.
“The stocks go down rather quickly.”
Cllr Hugh Jones added that “salt borrowed, never replaced”, is something the department is aware of.
Ruabon Cllr Dana Davies asked the council to make it clearer to members of the public where the responsibility for repairing potholes lies.
She said: “They report them to us, we report them to the environment department and very often the residents come back to us saying the potholes are still there, nothing’s been done.”
Officers explained that reports come straight through to inspectors at the environment department who will carry out an inspection.
Inspectors will measure the size of the hole – and if it is severe it is dealt with straight away, but smaller potholes are passed on to the maintenance team to be repaired as soon as possible.
The Executive Board voted in support of the updated winter maintenance policy.
