“There is a great site near Capel, used to be the Brickworks, must be loads space there to store salt supplies. As it's a mined product doubt it has a best before date, its been in the ground for a long time! It appears to be best stored undercover and suspect under lock and key to stop it getting stolen for driveways. The snag of proposing a storage site is going to be local residents up in arms because they want snow free roads but they don't want the nuisance of it being bought in and sent out near them.”

“the issue here is not about councillors working to clear snow as that is largely gesture politics. Nor is it about whether the council should be gritting everywhere,self evidently they cant do that due to expense (unless everyone is willing to pay for a hike in their council tax....no? thought not). The issue here is how much grit we should keep in stock. While it is true that we do not have snow like this very often and people have to expect problems, people need the tools to help themselves. Not filling grit buckets renders keeping the main roads free largely ineffective as if you cant get out of your street it makes no difference that the main roads are free. Added to this are the secondary consequences such as the massive increase in demmand on the NHS caused by people falling over and breaking bones, the loss to the economy as people cant work etc.
so the question is how much does it cost to have a massive stockpile of grit? I am not sure where they store the grit but I imagine it is a massive space that is largely unaffected by the amount of grit that is stored there. so that cost wont really change. Does grit go off? again I guess not. So that only leaves the initial cost of buying the grit, and to be honest that is a one off expenditure which if done at right time will be cheaper than diverting supplies at high demmand and I beleive this initial cost is more than offset by costs above.
get more grit keep it for times like this and ensure bins are full then at least people can help themselves”

“Moan, moan, moan! Have you ever considered why councillors need to be available? Say we have a major disaster, terrorist attack, unusual weather etc. they need to be in place and available to co ordinate the saving of lives and the running of services that many rely on. I'm sure plenty would have rather stayed put when the snow first hit rather than risk getting to work. Criticising the grit stocks that has been used to the best advantage to help the majority is counter productive. How many of you were visible helping others or you just complaining? SCC are not a disgrace, the actions and reaction's of the generally lethargic population is. I have witnessed many helping others get out of trouble with the weather and power cuts. Pity some of the moaners don't muck in. But it is not to late, get out there and help someone, Talk to the people that are doing the best under difficult circumstances. Show some support for the council, they were democratically voted for after all.”

“The councillors should have been visiable and been helping clear pavements especially helping the elderley. I guess the same goes for the community support officers waste of space walking around all day give them a spade.”

“Does anyone out there know which streets our councillors live in and whether those roads have been salted/gritted? There are reports from across the country that local authorities are gritting or salting residential side roads if a councillor lives in them.”