A RUBERY resident has hit out at what she calls a ‘lack of gritting’ by Worcestershire County Council in the village.
Jane Cotterill contacted the Standard, claiming there were some roads which were listed on the authority’s gritting routes that had been ‘totally ignored’.
Rubery and south Birmingham were among the worst affected areas in the Midlands by the heavy snow brought by Storm Goretti.
She said: “Residents on Hazel Road, for example, had been unable to get their cars out for three days.
“The hill on the road is extremely steep but it is on a blue gritting route which means it should be gritted in times of severe weather and we normally do see the gritter in the road if the temperatures are predicted to be below freezing.
“But the gritter had not been anywhere near Hazel Road since the snow came on Thursday evening, by Sunday, the road was like an ice rink as the snow has started to thaw and refrozen three times.
“The residents tried to grit it themselves but the grit bin was half empty on Thursday and by the weekend was now totally empty (which has been reported to the council).
“This made it impossible to try and ease the situation.
“The residents feel like they have been totally abandoned by the council as do other people who live in roads that are on the gritting route and have not been gritted either.”
She called on Worcestershire County Council to explain why gritting had not taken place.
A Worcestershire County Council spokesperson said gritting crews were out last week treating the road network in line with its Winter Service Policy and Operational Plan.
“Treatments were deliberately timed using detailed local forecasts and real-time monitoring by winter service inspectors, with gritting and snow-ploughing commencing as rainfall turned to snow.
“Crews worked throughout the event to keep the key road network operational.
“We have had a number of bins reported as being empty and are currently working on them being replenished.”
