Issue - items at meetings - Highways Winter Service Plan 2010-11

Report of the Strategic Director, Place (copy attached).

(1)         That the Cabinet Member approves the Brighton & Hove City Council HighwaysWinter Service Plan 20010/11 as attached at Appendix A to this report.

64.1               The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Strategic Director, Place concerning council’s revised Highways Winter Service Plan.

64.2               Councillor Mitchell advised that she was pleased that the recommendations from the scrutiny panel report had been incorporated into the revised Service Plan and that she hoped that staff would be sufficiently trained. She thanked the officers involved and added that she hoped that links with other organisations would be maintained in order for a joint approach to be taken across the city.

64.3               Councillor Fryer welcomed the revised Service Plan and thanked officers for their hard work. She requested further information regarding the possibility of creating strategic pedestrian routes to identify the safest ways to move around the city.

64.4               The Cabinet Member advised that the council was keen to work closely with the bus companies to ensure that buses could move around the city as freely as possible during winter weather in order to carry out the important task of treading the grit into the roads. He reported that the Administration had allocated an additional £100,000 each year to specifically help with the issues tackled by the Winter Service Plan.

64.5               The Head of Network Management explained that the busiest thoroughfares were prioritised during extreme weather, followed by shopping areas and schools. Resource restrictions meant that pavements would only be cleared during heavy snowfall because it took a significant amount of time and relied on people using the pavements to tread the salt in. She added that the number of grit bins had been increased to over 400 allowing more residents to help themselves during difficult weather.

64.6               RESOLVED - That having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, the Cabinet Member accepted the following recommendation:

(1)         That the Brighton & Hove City Council HighwaysWinter Service Plan 20010/11 at Appendix A be approved.