“I am incredibly proud of the fantastic job that our staff have done throughout this record breaking bout of severe weather,” said Monmouthshire County Council Chief Executive Paul Matthews.
He continued:
“For over a month now, our people have been keeping our major roads clear and safe, continuing to run lifesaving services and maintaining the infrastructure of a decent society – schools, libraries, museums and public buildings have remained open as far as possible.”
We have had people out all night snow ploughing main routes. And today we have people and machines clearing as much snow as possible from our towns and villages. Our Countryside team has committed two 4×4’s to assisting the Community Meals service and home carers. A third is supporting Registrars as required and is available for any ad hoc demands. And our staff continue to use their own 4×4 vehicles to support the continued delivery of key services.
Grit remains a concern for all local authorities. We have gritted approximately 30,000km of highway since October. That’s five round trips to Rhodes, where the temperature is currently a very bearable 19c. Re-stocking is now in the hands of WAG and supplies will be allocated on the basis of need, rather than when the order was made. Unlike other parts of south east Wales, Monmouthshire’s main routes have continued to be treated. Our current stock of grit is 2,800 tonnes. Our full capacity is 7,500 tonnes. If weather conditions remain poor and supplies run low it may be necessary to reduce application rates and cut back on the number of treated roads and footpaths.
All our buildings are open today, although there are some restrictions on access and opening times. The current situation can be found on our web site: www.monmouthshire.gov.uk
There have been some restrictions to the public transport services that we subsidise. Again, full details can be found on our web site.
