Budget Proposals 2025/26: Reduce the number of winter gritting routes
Help us balance our budget.
Consultation status Open - 35 days left
Background
West Berkshire Council, as the highway authority, is responsible for looking after the district's 1,323km of publicly maintainable surfaced roads during the winter period, which runs from late October to early April each year. Our winter service is delivered by the Council's Term Maintenance Contractor, as part of our wider highway maintenance service.
The Council is not responsible for maintaining motorways and some major A-roads (historically known as trunk roads), which are maintained by National Highways. We are also not responsible for maintaining 'unadopted' private roads, as this responsibility is held by the owners of properties which front onto these roads. As such, these parts of the road network are not included in this consultation.
Legislative and Statutory Requirements
By law, highway authorities must do all that is reasonably practicable to keep the publicly maintained highway free of snow and ice. It is recognised nationally that it is not reasonable to grit every single road. In West Berkshire, we prioritise roads for treatment so that only the highest priority routes routinely receive salting treatments or are ploughed during snow conditions. These are known as our Primary routes, and they are routinely treated throughout the winter season in advance of freezing conditions. They may also be treated, if necessary, continuously during a severe weather event.
You can see all current primary routes on our mapping tool here.
Currently, daily weather forecasts for West Berkshire, from the A4 Halfway weather station, are used to decide if the routes should be treated, as well as the amount of salt to be spread. Treatment is normally carried out in advance of forecasted freezing conditions to achieve the most effective results. This is referred to as precautionary treatment. We also carry out reactive salting during prolonged freezing conditions.
Our policy which details the priority order for road salting can be viewed/downloaded here [6MB] .
What we are proposing
To reduce the number of winter gritting routes by revising the criteria used to determine which roads should be treated as part of our Primary Route Network, to align with current national guidance. Our review would consider:
- all 'A' class roads that the Council is responsible for
- other main roads that have higher traffic flows at peak traffic periods
- key public transport routes and access to public transport infrastructure
- main access routes to, towns and villages, i.e. those not served by a main road, large educational establishments, major hospitals and healthcare facilities, important emergency service locations, sites identified as critical infrastructure
On completion of the review, our Primary Route Network would be updated to treat all routes that meet the revised criteria going forward. This could mean that some roads that are currently part of the Primary Route Network may no longer be treated, and that some roads that are not currently part of the Primary Route Network may be treated. Overall, we expect the size of the network to reduce.
In addition, for 2025/26 the Council will move to route-based treatments which will enable more informed decisions about when to grit the roads, with the intention to cut down on gritting across the district in future years by targeting only those areas that need treatment, saving on costs and reducing carbon emissions.
The expected saving for 2025/26 would be approximately £40,000.
What we think the impact will be
It is expected that the change in route selection criteria and closer alignment with national guidance, as well as the resulting changes in the Primary Route Network, would lead to:
- a more robust approach to delivering the winter service that is aligned to national guidance
- a small number of roads that are currently included, may no longer be part of a Primary Route Network and therefore would not be routinely treated - this could impact a small proportion of residents and road users, particularly those who feel less confident driving on untreated roads
- a small number of roads that are currently not routinely treated may meet the revised route selection criteria and therefore be routinely treated as part of the Primary Route Network going forward
- an overall reduction in the size of the Primary Route Network
- an increased risk of accidents where roads are untreated, however in line with existing warning and information practices, road users would continue to be advised to consider the road conditions when travelling during wintry conditions
- environmental benefits from a reduction in salt usage, vehicle mileage and fuel usage
Please refer to the Equity Impact Assessment to see what has already been identified [244KB] .
What else we have considered before arriving at our proposal
In developing this proposal, we have also considered the following:
- Maintain current level of service: This option is not being proposed because of the scale of the budget pressures faced by the Council, and the legal requirement to operate within our budget limits. If we maintained current levels of service, it would put additional pressure on other statutory or critical services to deliver increased savings. This may impact levels of service in these areas and our ability to operate within our budget.
- Revise our set of Primary routes against existing criteria: This option is not being proposed as we want to ensure we would be revising our set of Primary Routes to align with current national guidance.
No other options to reduce expenditure in this area have been identified.
Why we want your views
We'd like to know what you think of our proposal, how it might affect you and the wider community, and any suggestions you may have on how we could minimise any potential negative effects, should we proceed. We'll also ask you a little bit about yourself, for example, if you're a service user or how old you are, but you cannot be identified from your answers.
How to take part
If you'd like to comment on our proposal, please complete our survey by midnight on Monday, 23 December 2024. It should take about 10 minutes.
If you have any questions about the consultation, please email environmentconsult@westberks.gov.uk
What happens next
All feedback will be analysed by the service, and a recommendation made to elected Members as part of the budget papers for 2025/26 at the Executive meeting on Thursday, 13 February 2025. A final decision whether to proceed with the proposal will then be made by elected Members at the meeting of Full Council on Thursday, 27 February 2025.
The recommendations will also be reviewed and discussed by members of the Scrutiny Commission on Tuesday, 11 February 2025.
Shortly after the Full Council meeting, a summary of the responses we received and the decisions taken will be published on this page.
If the decision is made to proceed with the proposal, the change will be implemented from October 2025 in advance of the winter season.
All meetings will be open to the public, and residents can attend either in person at the Market Street Offices or online. If you'd like to ask a West Berkshire Councillor a question at a public meeting, find out what can and can't be asked, and how to submit your question here.
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