Half of UK councils 'lack salt for roads', AA warns
Half of UK councils 'lack salt for roads', AA warns
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Discussion

mrmr96

Original Poster:

13,736 posts

234 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
WTF? I thought I must have been reading last year's news. This SIMPLE CAN'T have caught them out again, can it? Surely?!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8410726.stm

BBC said:
Half of the UK's local authorities only have enough road salt for six days of continuous freezing, the AA has said.

The motoring organisation said it has been told that local councils have 250,000 tonnes less road salt in stock than they would have had a decade ago.

It said last winter's heavy snow meant stocks had dwindled and some councils had to "borrow" from others.

But the Local Government Association said the suggestion councils were not ready was "ridiculous scaremongering".

The AA said it had been informed of the shortage by industry sources.

The organisation added local authorities' reliance on "just in time" deliveries left too many of them vulnerable to a lengthy big freeze or major snowfall.
OR... is this just a big non-story and really there's loads? [scratch-chin smilie]

Edited by mrmr96 on Monday 14th December 09:58

Road Hog

2,659 posts

243 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
plenty of salt available they just need to give us a ring ...;)

thinfourth2

32,414 posts

234 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
Road Hog said:
plenty of salt available they just need to give us a ring ...;)
Completely off topic sort of

Do you supply salt in bulk as i fancy buying a ton or two as no way will the council be gritting or salting anywhere near me

Road Hog

2,659 posts

243 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
thinfourth2 said:
Road Hog said:
plenty of salt available they just need to give us a ring ...;)
Completely off topic sort of

Do you supply salt in bulk as i fancy buying a ton or two as no way will the council be gritting or salting anywhere near me
i am unsure of the smallest order available,

we are the deepest mine in the uk mining salt and potash,...there is at the moment huge stockpiles of the stuff

http://b7prt05.iclfertilizers.com/irj/servlet/prt/...


you could give them a ring ?

J B L

4,217 posts

245 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
Didn't they (tried to) pull the same one last year already? Councils were running out of salt and we were all going to be stranded at home, the country would grind to a halt etc...

Bring on a nice white winter!

Road Hog

2,659 posts

243 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
unless its real bad between xmas eve and jan 4th (just lights on no one home)

Kermit power

29,622 posts

243 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
My Granddad was the chief engineer for Oxfordshire back in the Sixties.

In one particularly bad-looking winter, they were told that they could only have 40% or so of the salt they'd ordered. It seemed that at the time, pretty much all road salt came from one single company in the UK.

It also seems that at the time, the Chairman of whichever incarnation of the British motor industry was running Cowley also happened to be on the board of said company.

My Granddad therefore dutifully pootled over to Cowley to apologise in person for the fact that he was unable to guarantee that the county would be able to keep the roads into the factory open.

Three days later, he had more salt than he could actually store! hehe

KaraK

13,824 posts

239 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
Hopefully this isn't true... I had to go hunting for a fair few miles for a grit bin with anything in last year. The road leading up to where I live gets a little treacherous if we don't take steps!

Road Hog

2,659 posts

243 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
at work (great for robot wars)



run about car (shuttle car)



Edited by Road Hog on Monday 14th December 10:45

The Hypno-Toad

13,307 posts

235 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
So if they can't salt the roads.....

And our beloved dictator calls a snap election in January.....

That'll mean that lots of people (including all the old fogeys who normally vote Conservative) won't be able to get the polling booths....

Sounds like a plan.

Kermit power

29,622 posts

243 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
The Hypno-Toad said:
So if they can't salt the roads.....

And our beloved dictator calls a snap election in January.....

That'll mean that lots of people (including all the old fogeys who normally vote Conservative) won't be able to get the polling booths....

Sounds like a plan.
Historically, the Labour vote gets hit harder than the Tory vote in bad weather.

Having said that, it's better to be safe than sorry, so I'll let my local Labour party coordinator know that I've got a 7-seat Shogun with All Terrain tyres should they need their elderly voters delivering to the polling stations.

"Yes dear, that's right, the polling station is just through those trees. Don't you worry, the snow always makes things look a bit different!"

.:ian:.

3,108 posts

233 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
Kermit power said:
Historically, the Labour vote gets hit harder than the Tory vote in bad weather.
Shall I wait for the bus to the polling station in the driving snow? nah,, fuggit, Jeremy Kyles on..

laugh

rufusruffcutt

1,551 posts

235 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
Just wait for excuses to start by the end of this coming weekend.
(ice and snow on the way from Thursday onwards if you haven't heard already)

AndrewW-G

11,968 posts

247 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
What are the odds that any cold snap resulting in them running out of salt will be blammed on "climate change"

odyssey2200

18,650 posts

239 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
AndrewW-G said:
running out of salt will be blammed on "climate change"
100% certain to happen.

BJWoods

5,018 posts

314 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
mrmr96 said:
WTF? I thought I must have been reading last year's news. This SIMPLE CAN'T have caught them out again, can it? Surely?!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8410726.stm

BBC said:
Half of the UK's local authorities only have enough road salt for six days of continuous freezing, the AA has said.

The motoring organisation said it has been told that local councils have 250,000 tonnes less road salt in stock than they would have had a decade ago.

It said last winter's heavy snow meant stocks had dwindled and some councils had to "borrow" from others.

But the Local Government Association said the suggestion councils were not ready was "ridiculous scaremongering".

The AA said it had been informed of the shortage by industry sources.

The organisation added local authorities' reliance on "just in time" deliveries left too many of them vulnerable to a lengthy big freeze or major snowfall.
OR... is this just a big non-story and really there's loads? [scratch-chin smilie]

Edited by mrmr96 on Monday 14th December 09:58
Well they have been listening to the MET office...

Years, and years of AGW (mam made global warming propoganda) so don't hold the councils to blame.

Cern, proper physicists, astro physicists, have predicted, (with facts, evidence, etc) that it will be getting cooler, for a number of years.

B

dilbert

7,741 posts

261 months

Monday 14th December 2009
quotequote all
mrmr96 said:
WTF? I thought I must have been reading last year's news. This SIMPLE CAN'T have caught them out again, can it? Surely?!
It's so that they can blame the seize up of traffic on Climate Change.