Story: Douglas Johnson
As autumn approaches, the Council is already planning next year’s budget cuts and this will mean fewer streets being gritted in times of snow and ice.
The council is giving priority for gritting to bus routes, roads with schools, doctors' surgeries, care homes ‘or other critical public facilities’. It is also giving priority to steep roads with over 3000 cars a day, and to roads leading towards Manchester Road. The cuts will reduce the length of gritted roads from 720 to 610 miles.
The Council carried out a consultation which received 1,133 responses, almost all of them online. One result was that the Council agreed to keep gritting Johnson Street, just off Nursery Street, because the church is a public facility.
However, the Council decided to stop gritting Spital Street, Verdon Street and Carlisle Street. This was because these streets had also lost their M20 bus service so it was no longer a bus route.
After the Messenger contacted the Council, it has now decided to keep gritting Spital Street. It will also keep gritting part of Lyons Street where the buses run.
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