Given the treacherous conditions on some Isle of Wight roads this week, Chale resident Mike Starke made the decision to write to his local Ward councillor, Dave Stewart, about it. Ed
Hi Dave
I realise that your Conservative group rules 9 and 11 severely restrict your ability to represent other than the interests of your political party, but I believe you are allowed some latitude in respect of ward matters.
In this regard, then, I would draw your attention to the danger to persons and property precipitated by the failure this week for whatever remains of County Hall’s highways department to fulfill its legal obligations under section 41 (1A) of the Highways Act 1980 to “…ensure safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice…”
A skating rink of untreated black ice
Yesterday morning (12 December) I had reason to drive along the four miles or so of road between Chale Green and Rookley. It was a skating rink of untreated black ice.
Two delivery vehicles were stranded with their drivers, prudently in my view, waiting to be able to proceed safely.
I would ask those who made the irresponsible and somewhat risible decision to, as we were told, “save” de-icing salt for some other unpredictable occasion, on the spurious grounds that the government “may” not replenish stocks, to reflect on the dire consequences to jobs and businesses of having the Island’s roads impassable at a time of day when people need to get to work and businesses need deliveries.
Officials being economical with the truth?
I suspect the excuse of “saving” salt may be yet another example of the council’s senior officials being economical with the truth in order to conceal the reality of their serial incompetence.
I had the opportunity to make comparisons over road de-icing procedures with a mainland county council this week and was told they had recently upgraded their fleet of vehicles and that their crews were particularly pleased to be able to operate them at this pre-Christmas period because “it gave them the chance to earn overtime.”
Have staff budgets run out?
Now, that prompted me to think; might this not be the truth of the matter here? That the illegal failure to clear ice from the Island’s roads is simply because the money’s run out to pay the operatives needed.
I wonder if you could take this up with the appropriate officials, provided they have not all been hived off to serve Vinci-Meridiam’s “Island Roads” subsidiary on the PFI staff.
Regards,
Mike
Image: firemedic58 under CC BY 2.0
