Winter gritting & snow clearance

Fife Council has a statutory responsibility, under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984, to take all reasonable steps as it considers reasonable to prevent ice and snow from endangering the safe passage of pedestrians and vehicles over public roads. (*“Roads” include carriageways, car parks, footways, cycleways and pedestrian areas)

The Winter Gritting and Snowclearing Operational Plan is the means by which Fife Council seeks to provide an effective and efficient winter gritting and snow-clearing service, to negate the effects of bad weather and road conditions which have the potential of causing delays and posing hazards for all road users.

Winter gritting and snow-clearing involves treating roads in order to:

•  prevent ice from forming (pre-salting)
•  melt ice and snow (post-salting)
•  remove snow (ploughing)

Decisions on whether or not to act must be taken with due care and on reasonable grounds. The object is to provide a winter gritting and snow-clearing service which will, as far as is reasonably practical, within financial constraints and resource limitations:

• permit the safe movement of  vehicles and pedestrians on the more important parts of the network
•  seek to minimise delays and accidents attributable to weather conditions
•  take account of the environmental impact of the salting process

A public guide to Fife Council's winter service, Keeping Fife Moving, is attached to this page, which includes answers to lots of frequently-asked questions.

If you'd like a more detailed overview of Fife Council's roles and responsibilities, see the Guide to Winter Gritting & Snow Clearing which can also be viewed from the publications section on this page.

Closure alerts on FifeDirect
FifeDirect offers a free closure alerts service to keep you up to date with any unplanned closures of council facilities throughout Fife. This includes Local Services Centres, libraries, leisure centres, social work offices, recycling centres etc. You can sign up for these alerts by joining FifeDirect.  Find out more about Closure alerts service at www.fifedirect.org.uk/alerts

See Also

Publications

• Guide to Winter Gritting & Snow Clearing (2012-13) (19 Oct 2012)
• Keeping Fife Moving (13 Nov 2012)
• Winter Gritting & Snow Clearing Policy Statement 2012-13 (19 Oct 2012)