Community Information - Friday 8 January 2010

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(1) Refuse Collection (AMENDED) - from NUL Borough Council
(1) Staffordshire Highways’ plea for emergency calls only - Winter Gritting Briefing 3

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Police non emergency number 0300 123 44 55

Refuse Collection (AMENDED) - from NUL Borough Council

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'Please put your waste out for collection on your scheduled collection day. If it's not collected by 5pm pull in your bin and additional black bags, and put them out for collection next week on your collection day'

Staffordshire Highways’ plea for emergency calls only

Residents are being urged to only contact Staffordshire County Council’s highways hotline in an emergency after calls peaked at 300 per hour this week.

The huge increase in demand sparked by the prolonged cold snap has left call centre staff struggling to cope.

On average, the team deals with around 30 calls per hour but this week the hourly figure was ten times the norm.

The highways hotline, 0800 232323, should only be used to alert the team to emergency situations rather than general gritting queries.

County Councillor Mike Maryon, Cabinet member for Highways, said: “The volume of calls that the highways hotline is trying to handle at the moment is staggering and we are desperate to ensure that real emergency calls are not blocked by minor issues.

“However, the vast majority of calls that the team is taking are far from vital. These non emergency calls are putting immense pressure on an already stretched resource.

“I would urge residents to consider whether their question or comment really is vital. If it is not, don’t call. You could end up tying up the line while someone in dire straights is also trying to get through to the team.”

The county council made a decision yesterday to reduce its gritting routes to cover the A and B roads only.

Grit bins are not currently being restocked but the team is out in force across the county hand gritting various ‘critical’ locations such as around hospitals and GP surgeries and in town centres.

Councillor Maryon added: “The highways team is braving the winter weather and is hand spreading a special salt based mixture around grit bin locations, on some road bends and on various steep hills. The team is pulling out all the stops to do everything in its power to keep Staffordshire on the move.

“However, people do need to remember to take extra care in these difficult conditions. Even roads that have been gritted can still be challenging when the winter weather takes hold and, when temperatures plummet to -8 or below, grit has no effect."

Cllr Maryon said he also wanted to assure Staffordshire residents that no savings would be made when it came to the gritting of roads.

“I have been asked if we are proposing to reduce the number of regular gritting routes from 43% of our network as a revenue saving for the next financial year.
“I can assure residents that there is no such proposal. While it is important for every council service to put forward suggested savings each year so that residents get the best value for money, this is one area where we cannot compromise.
“We’re proud that the number of roads on our gritting routes is higher than the national average and residents have told us that this important to them too.”