Farmers to tackle snow problems
It has been revealed that council bosses have come up with the perfect solution to help residents who have been snowed in by winter weather – to call in the farmers.
West Sussex County Council has now finished a report on how they dealt with snow and ice which hit the county this winter.
One of the report’s proposals to prevent rural communities from being hindered by snowfall - in the future - is to make better organised use of farmers, businesses and individuals.
The report says the locals it asked said it should be possible to organise and equip farmers to clear remote rural roads and that the West Sussex Public Service Board should consider funding their equipment.
One of the costs of the council’s decision to follow national guidelines and grit only main highways meant that the rural road networks and routes were left in a terrible state and some villages were isolated and left running low on food and fuel supplies as a result. Farmers were used by county councils until a few years ago when the practice was ended.
A West Sussex County Council spokesman said: “We are keen to explore working with farmers particularly in isolated rural areas of the county, and public liability is obviously an issue that will be explored as we and all our partners work towards planning for next winter.”
Drivers rescued from snow
In similar news, reports showed how the snow once again devastated Great Britain this 2010, as vehicles came to a halt, lighting went out and car accidents were on the rise.
Just last week around 300 – including children on a school bus – were rescued from cars trapped in snow in Londonderry, as severe winter storms wrecked havoc in the region.
Blizzards, gale force winds and torrential rain hit Scotland and Northern Ireland, knocking down power lines and wreaking transport havoc.
As a result, the Met Office issued extreme weather warnings for the two regions, forecasting more severe blizzards and severe drifting snow up to 50cm (20in) deep in parts.
Steve Ellison, a forecaster from MeteoGroup, said the wintry weather would start to die away, but it would remain unsettled in many parts.
He stated: “There's been quite a lot of snow falling over Scotland, especially over the higher ground. But places like Edinburgh can also expect a covering. It's also going to be very windy again. A deep low pressure is moving across the UK at the moment, dragging in a lot of cold air from the north.”
Councils across the UK will now have to clean up after the snow mess and fork out for potholes caused by the big freeze.
One council in Barnet has been awarded an extra £17,000 from the government, to help deal with the potholes across the borough to prevent compensation claims.
This move has been greeted by Hendon MP Andrew Dismore (Lab), who said: “The big freeze that hit Britain this winter inflicted massive damage on Hendon’s road network.
“Snow, ice and plummeting temperatures not only made it the severest winter in 30 years, they also left a moonscape of pitted and potholed roads to be repaired up and down the constituency.
“Whilst Barnet Council claims they have been working to repair the pot holes, there’s far too many still neglected. They risk becoming a danger to road users and increasingly expensive to repair,” he said.
Updated on 06/04/2010