Snow worries

We have a comprehensive action plan in place should temperatures plummet again

Action plan

• During severe weather, we will alert you through our website, Twitter and local media of plans for the following day, such as gritting and waste collection services
• Maps on our website now show gritting routes and salt bin locations
• More roads and pavements will be treated than ever before
• We have bought new machinery, to be stored and used by Neighbourhood Teams and schools
• Cars will be moved quickly from certain roads to stop them blocking buses or emergency vehicles
• Priority gritting routes now include access to schools and child and family venues in areas we know are worst affected by severe snow
• Salt stocks have tripled
• One-tonne builders bags filled with salt will be deployed when needed for residents to use
• In an emergency, staff will be redeployed to snow-clearing duties
• Local bases with salt and snow clearing equipment will be used to speed up response times.

Roads and pavements

• Extended priority routes include GP surgeries, care homes, all bus routes, schools and other facilities – such as shops
• Schools and grounds staff have been trained to clear snow
• Local snow dumps have been identified and will be used if needed to keep roads and pavements clear
• Snow clearways on the A71 (from Gorgie to just past Hermiston) and on some residential streets will be used in very severe weather
• Parked cars will be moved to safe locations nearby where they can be collected without penalty charge.

Schools and community education services

• We will tell you as early as possible if your school, nursery or centre is to close so that you can plan ahead
• each building has snow shovels and hand-gritters available
• snow blowers and one-tonne bags of salt will be allocated
• teachers who can’t get to their school or whose school is closed will be redeployed to their nearest one within Edinburgh to help with cover.

Support for vulnerable people

The most vulnerable are people aged 80 or over or those living alone where there is also a significant disability or medical condition.

• We will respond to requests for help in sheltered, supported or Council housing for those most at risk
• We will provide emergency food supplies to the most vulnerable
• The Council’s Social Care Direct service is the first point of contact for vulnerable people or if you are concerned about a neighbour.

Rubbish and recycling

• Where possible we will keep to normal waste collections
• If the weather affects this we will suspend garden waste collections first
• We will place temporary waste skips where they are needed if services are severely affected
• A map on our website will tell you where we put the skips
• We will monitor the skips more closely to prevent overflow.

Keeping you informed

We’ve updated all of the winter weather information on our website to make it easier for you to use.

You can find out more about the Council’s plans for normal and severe winter weather, including tips on preparing for winter and maps showing the location of salt (grit) bins, where we’ll put one tonne salt bags if needed, road and pavement gritting routes and the sites we will use for temporary waste skips.

Helping you plan

During severe winter weather, we will give you daily alerts on our website and through Twitter. These will tell you about roads and pavements we will grit, disruption to rubbish and recycling services and, as early as possible, if your school or nursery is to close.

We will also provide regular updates on traffic problems, help for vulnerable people and where you can find salt bins.

Need to know

Check your local edition of Outlook for more details on the winter plans in your area.