Last evening we saw some 100mm of snow falling across the Blacktoft and Gilberdyke area, the snow began to fall in the late afternoon and continued into the early hours. Gilberdyke and Blacktoft Parish Councils had put together a joint plan after the serious snow of last winter, and based on the weather forecast and information from the East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) put the appointed contractor on standby, a local farmer (Martinsons from Blacktoft) with a 4x4 tractor fitted with a snow plough. Last night these measures put in place went exactly to plan.
The important lesson learnt from last winter was that it was essential to clear the snow from the roads as soon as possible after it fell, and before it became compacted by moving vehicles. Both Parish Councils accepted that the ERYC gritting and snow plough teams had responsibility for the primary highways and would be unlikely to plough the Parish roads, therefore they put together their own plan.
After a quick ring around, the Parish Council’s triggered the plan at about 10pm last night when it was evident that there was enough snow to plough away. The contractor, Andrew Martinson, then worked through until approximately 4.30am clearing the snow as it fell onto the roads in and out of the Parishes. After a few hours break Paul Martinson then took over for the morning shift, starting just after 8am.
This went exactly to plan and the roads in and out of the villages are now wet and more or less clear of all snow, whilst roads around other villages are still covered with compacted snow, although this is now thawing.The cost for this is shared between the two Parish Councils, and will hopefully be reclaimed from a winter maintenance grant.
