Winter Service Plan 2008-9 (Abridged Version)
4.0 Why do we provide a Winter Service?
4.1 The Council’s 2000 Local Transport Strategy – Policy 25-states:
“Scottish Borders Council will continue to provide winter maintenance throughout the Scottish Borders, and use the road hierarchy to prioritise works throughout the network”
4.2 The Roads (Scotland ) Act 1984 Section 34 states:
“A roads authority shall take such steps as they consider reasonable to prevent snow and ice endangering the safe passage of pedestrians and vehicles over public roads.”
The associated notes stress that this does not imply that the authorities must clear all snow and ice at all times from all their roads. Also the “Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance Management” suggests that it is not possible to “provide the service on all parts of the network or to ensure running surfaces are kept free of ice or snow at all times, even on treated parts of the network”.
In the design and practice guide “Highway winter maintenance” issued by the Institution of Civil Engineers, it is suggested that “A highway authority’s policy objective in relation to winter maintenance could be defined as the reduction as far as possible of the effects of adverse weather to provide travelling conditions as safe as reasonably possible having regard to financial constraints.”
4.3 The Council Policy for Winter Service
“Scottish Borders Council aims to assist road users in adverse winter conditions by providing a service which it considers reasonable to prevent snow and ice endangering the safe passage of pedestrians and vehicles, using available financial and operational resources”
4.4 The standard of service is constrained by resources. It is commonly accepted that the service cannot ensure that the whole road network is free of ice or snow. Financial restrictions limit the level of service in terms of what can be provided. Actual operational resources available in terms of plant and staff dictates how quickly service is delivered.
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