Winter gritting in parts of Greater Manchester to be slashed to save money

Ice gritting in parts of the region won’t be going ahead this winter as councils cut back on costs.

Under revised plans, Bolton Council has said it will only grit roads that are in a ‘very high risk’ category in order to save an estimated sum of £257,000.

Instead, the council will only be gritting roads with the largest traffic volumes, major routes, and critical infrastructure.

The changes, expected to stay in place until at least 2024, were detailed in a council report responding to cuts in central funding.

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The report reads: “As a consequence of the savings options proposed in the February 2021 budget report, the Winter Service Budget is proposed to be reduced by £257k.

“This effectively means that the council will need to reduce its treatment regime to the very high-risk category – ie the resilient network only.”

The document adds: “It is beyond the resources of the council to treat the entire highway network in winter conditions and therefore the prioritisation of routes must take place.

“A risk-based approach has been investigated, where every road owned by the council, has been assessed and placed within a specific category. Given the council’s current financial challenges, 5 risk categories of highway were identified.”

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Instead, more salt bins will be installed across the town, the council added.

Cllr David Wilkinson has said the cuts will have ‘significant implications’ on residents across Westhoughton who use public transport, saying the council confirmed to him that a number of routes will be removed.

He said the council also said they anticipate ‘more accidents and injuries’ as a result of the cuts.

He explained: “On the report, it has been made clear that the council admits there will be more accidents and more people will be injured because there will be less roads gritted meaning there will be more ice, frost and snow during the winter months and there will be an increase in accidents, the council admits it.”

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The council has said this wasn’t a decision they wanted to make, adding that the policy will be in place until at least 2024.

Bolton Council’s Executive Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Cllr Stuart Haslam, said: “This certainly was not a decision I wanted to take, the winter gritting service fulfils a vital service for road users.

“The changes to the gritting route are part of the council’s wider saving of £37.2m identified for the 2021-23 budget period.

“The council has adopted a risk-based approach to winter maintenance, meaning each road in the borough has been categorised in priority order. Under this approach, gritting will continue along all major routes, roads that have the largest volume of traffic and those which provide access to critical infrastructure.”