Council set to cut gritting on 100 miles of road

Councillors are expected to approve recommendations to reduce the number of “priority two” routes on 100 miles of road and remove grit bins in several areas at a meeting of the highways cabinet committee next Friday.

It follows months of protests and campaigning from residents in west and rural areas of the city, who argue the move would put them at risk.

The report also recommends that the current snow warden scheme, which trains and equips volunteers to help out in their communities during severe winter weather, should continue but states that no new wardens should be recruited in future years.

Coun Jack Scott, Sheffield Council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “By 2015 we would have lost 50 per cent of our funding from central Government. We received some very detailed responses from members of the public and interested parties to our consultation.

“We have been aware throughout this process that some people hold very strong views about our proposals and we have made every effort to listen directly to those people.

“If these recommendations are accepted and the criteria is applied to the highway network, Sheffield would still provide the highest level of winter maintenance service compared to other local authorities across the country, and this would also include those areas that have a similar topography to Sheffield.”