THE storm before the storm: Cheshire East's controversial cuts to their winter gritting policy heated up last week, days before Storm Arwen took stronghold on our town.

Fresh criticism followed after last month's announcement of penny-pinching gritting cuts, which included 10,798 meters of road no longer having gritters on in Congleton.

This included over 30 Congleton streets such as Highcroft Avenue and Padgbury Lane.

The new winter gritting policy has come under fire again with one councillor saying it doesn't take account of how dangerous roads are, just how often they are used.

Members of the council's audit and governance committee said on Thursday they want to look at a report as soon as possible on the allocation and use of highways funding.

Cllr Patrick Redstone (Odd Rode, Con) said residents at Mow Cop faced a death-trap in the winter months.

"I agree that the last year's gritting wasn't as good as it should have been, but I think that my direction of travel is to increase it not cut it back," said Cllr Redstone.

"The way that roads are assessed are to the disadvantage of rural areas. All it cares about is how many people travel down a road, not how dangerous the road is in itself.

"A place very close to my heart is obviously Mow Cop, which is in my ward, and even in the summer it's not that safe, but once that water that flows on those roads so freely freezes, it becomes a death-trap."

Cllr Alift Harewood (Macclesfield West and Ivy, Lab) was highly critical of the cuts on the gritting routes, and the consultation.

She said roads considered dangerous were excluded from the consultation.

"Why were they excluded? On what consideration were they excluded and why do we need now to be putting in place other arrangements to help that decision that was made?"

And she asked when the decision would be reviewed, adding:

"The gritting programme is not enough, it's not adequate, it's frightening, it's not serving the residents, who have to use those roads, wisely."

Audit and governance committee chair Margaret Simon (Wistaston, Con) told Thursday's meeting: "I think there are many of us in here that would agree with what you've just said.

"Those points were raised very eloquently, one way or another, at council too, because we are assured that there will be a review but some of us were asking that that review took place immediately.

"We understand it will be early next year."

She added the council had been considered 'remarkably uncaring' over the issue.

At the last meeting of the full council in October, members of the public took councillors to task over the axing of some roads from the gritting route.

Wilmslow resident Stuart Redgard, who sent the council a detailed list of the issues in his town, told the October meeting he considered the highways department 'not fit for purpose' and in need of a 'complete overhaul'.

He said the winter gritting routes was full of errors and omissions.

"How many more errors and omissions do I have to reveal before this whole process is shown to be an absolute disaster?" he asked.

Cllr Craig Browne, chair of the highways and transport committee, said at the full council meeting that the gritting policy is due to be reviewed in March.

To read more about the cuts announced last month, please click on the article below.

See also: Congleton councillor and cyclist ponders gritting cuts u-turn.

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