Council looks to volunteers to deal with winter snow and ice

A West Yorkshire council looks set to recruit “snow patrol” teams of community volunteers to help clear snow and ice from roads and paths next winter.

Bradford Council has started considering several options to try to encourage community-minded citizens to get involved in a “snow team” scheme that would help improve snow and ice clearance during bad weather.

Four options have now been drawn up – but the most likely to be implemented will be the “snow team scheme” which would see the creation of groups, rather than letting individuals clear their own areas.

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Teams would be asked to prioritise vulnerable areas, such as steep roads, or priority routes such as shopping areas, post offices and bus stops, rather than simply looking after their own streets.

The council would provide the salt-grit mixture in wheeled bin containers that would be placed at secure locations around Bradford and would be the responsibility of the snow teams.

Each group would be provided with equipment and resources, including shovels, high-visibility waistcoats and training.

The costs to the council would depend on the number of groups coming forward.

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A report on the proposal, written by Ian Bairstow, the council’s director for the environment and sport, says the cost of implementing the scheme for the whole district would only be £5,250, although there will be additional administrative costs for providing health and safety training as well as evaluating the scheme.

Mr Bairstow said: “It is proposed that we would restrict the scheme to 2-3 groups per council ward, depending on interest in uptake, in the first year until the scheme has been evaluated.

“On the basis of two or three groups per ward, with a maximum of 50, the cost of implementing option four (the preferred option) would be approximately £5,250 for the whole District.”

To ensure risk is kept to a minimum, volunteers would be expected to undergo basic health and safety training on how to clear snow and ice, including the best techniques on how to spread salt.

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A system will need to be developed to ensure snow wardens are fit to participate. And guidelines will have to be drawn up to tell volunteers what they can and cannot do.

If the scheme is approved, as expected, by senior councillors, it is proposed that a marketing campaign will be launched during summer and early autumn to identify volunteers.

It is envisaged that a register will be kept of all snow team wardens, their areas of responsibility and the number of bins provided.

The scheme will be run as a pilot scheme in the winter of 2011/12 and the evaluated in April 2012, according to the council report.

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The report says that recent winters have led to increased demand for services, including gritting of roads and pavements, which has placed increased pressure on the council.

The idea for snow volunteers in Bradford stemmed from a suggestion by Shipley Green councillor Kevin Warnes and follows similar schemes in other local authorities.

Councillor Warnes’ suggestion stemmed from an informal scheme which took place in Saltaire, Bradford in December last year when community volunteers formed a snow clearing team on an informal basis.

The Saltaire team organised themselves and were provided with salt and grit by the council.

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The report concludes: “This (Saltaire scheme) was a valuable community service which supplemented the work carried out by Street Scene during the most severe periods of snow when resources were stretched to the limit.”

Other local authorities run similar schemes to that being proposed in Bradford.

In Sheffield there are 100 volunteers and Gloucester has more than 200. Members of Bradford Council’s executive are being asked to back the plans.