It may be Britain’s coldest snap since the early 1980s but Swansea Council is pulling out all the stops to make sure it’s business as usual.
Council staff are working tirelessly across a range of services despite the blanket of snow and ice across the city.
Refuse and recycling collection services are operating as normally as possible but, due to the severe weather and snowfall on higher ground, there will be some disruption to collections planned for Wednesday (January 6).
Any collections not completed on Wednesday will be prioritised for collection as soon as possible later in the week and residents should leave their waste and recycling materials out. Where it’s safe to do so, the Council is using smaller vehicles to try to collect some of the refuse in the affected streets.
Residents due to have their collections on Thursday January 7 should put their refuse and recycling out for collection as normal.
Many staff from the education department have also been arriving in work very early each day to take calls from schools about closures and then update a website aimed at keeping children and parents updated. Workers from the facilities management team were also on hand over the cold Christmas break to fix burst pipes at both Grange Primary School and Whitestone Primary School.
Grange Primary School is also one of Swansea’s schools whose headteacher has taken the decision to stay open so far this week. Head teacher Nicky Martell said: “I’d like to thank all my staff for their positive attitudes towards the challenges a snowy day brings. They’re also very good sports and joined in with all our activities. I personally enjoyed the snowball fight most of all!”
Each Active Swansea community leisure centre is open as normal and the majority of libraries throughout the city are reporting business as usual. The only library that’s been temporarily closed is Townhill library in the Phoenix Centre.
School crossing patrols have continued to be on hand for schoolchildren both at the start of school and, within reasonable time constraints, when schools have decided to close. All of Swansea’s District Housing Offices have been kept open.
Swansea Council staff have also been working closely alongside partner agencies to continue to provide services such as home care and meals to elderly and vulnerable people.
Cllr Nick Tregoning, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Social Services, said: “The services provided by social service workers and our partners are especially important at a time like this because many people will be more prone to the effects of cold weather and less able to leave the house.
“I’d like to thank those workers who have been going the extra mile because they may be the only people some of our elderly or vulnerable clients see all day.”
And these efforts come on top of the scores of workers from the Council’s transport team who’ve been busy gritting roads and pavements across the city to help keep motorists and pedestrians safe.
Cllr John Hague, Swansea Council Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “It’s been a terrific effort from our refuse and gritting teams in the face of adversity. Their hard work around the clock means there’s been very limited disruption to waste collection routines and main roads have been kept safe despite the snow and ice. The commitment of our road safety team has also meant safety patrols have been on hand at schools.”
Cllr Chris Holley, Swansea Council Leader, said: “The snow and ice generates problems for many of our departments but our staff have been pulling out all the stops to maintain a high quality of service.
“It’s our role to serve the people of Swansea and many of our workers deserve a pat on the back for helping services run as smoothly as possible during a difficult time.”
