The gritting row dividing Oldham

SNOW problem . . . Untreated road in Clarksfield

Readers have their say
Plenty of votes in favour...

:: I live in High Crompton and can’t give the council gritters enough praise. I work in Hollinwood and never got stuck on the major roads from home and back. Yes, some side roads were quite bad, but on the whole I think congratulations to the workmen.

WOODY



:: I WISH to applaud the excellent work carried out by Oldham Council to keep the traffic flowing over the last few days of snowfall and freezing conditions. My commute to work normally keeps me within the borough but I have been taking my wife to work which included travelling through Middleton and Manchester.

The road conditions in Oldham, considering the weather, were excellent whereas the conditions in Middleton and Manchester were treacherous. It is easy to critisise the council when things go wrong, so I thought a quick note of congratulations was required to the team which keeps Oldham moving. Well done and keep up the good work.

STEVE KILROY



:: gritter drivers have been working 12-hour shifts since Thursday. Well done lads, keep up the good work!!!

SAMANTHA KAUFMANN



:: I WAS recently one of several motorists forced to use public transport because of snow and was pleasantly surprised by the pleasantness, efficiency and reliability of the staff involved in the 407 Oldham to Denshaw route. Despite the adverse weather conditions, the driver was extremely helpful to everybody and the whole experience was a delight.

PAT BOTTOMLEY,

Denshaw



:: I WAS working and had to drive all night and so would like to thank the gritters for their efforts in keeping the main roads clear. I saw lots of these working throughout the night. I don’t think people realise how much work is involved keeping these roads open and because “our cul-de-sac wasn’t gritted” then there must be none working!

OLDHAMWHITE



:: Why do people try and drive when they are obviously incompetent and scared of it? Shopping on a Sunday is not a life and death issue! Then they abandon their cars so the gritters can’t clear the roads. I drive for a living but stayed at home Sunday and Monday (and I don’t get paid if I do).

MORGANA60



:: I THINK Councillor Akhtar and others need to check their facts straight before criticising the service. Road salt will only melt snow and ice down to around -4 degrees. So at a record low of -8.7 all the salt in Cheshire won’t make a difference! The lads on the gritting teams have done a superb job.

BUNGLE



:: They do a damned good job with the resources they’ve got.

GREENFIELD PETE



:: I drove from Royton to Scotland on Sunday (via Fitton Hill) a gritter was out on the Thorpe Farm estate gritting all the roads. A bit of snow and some chilly weather and the Oldhamers start whinging! It’s -12 here tonight, not -2! Get a grip!

SPIKE



:: THE council can’t control the weather and the plain fact is that the persistent heavy snow we’ve had WILL cover the roads despite the hard work of the gritter crews. My thanks go to them for battling on tirelessly.

YARD DOG



:: IF all the idiots who don’t really need to go out did the sensible thing and stayed indoors for a few days, the situation with all the abandoned cars blocking the roads wouldn’t be an issue and maybe then the gritters could do their job properly.

LINDA



:: Let’s praise the gritting teams for a change. The main roads have all been kept reasonably clear in adverse conditions, and at least useable with careful driving. Would the moaners want to be out all hours of the night? Credit where it’s due.

DN

Lees



:: THE street outside our shop was gritted every day and everyone involved was polite and hard-working. Well done Oldham Council for making a very difficult time much easier.

TYMBUKTU




And the votes against...



:: Yet again, the only people unaware of imminent snow was the council. Gritters? Last seen in April. I think they are yellow but have probably been replaced by ‘green’ recycle trucks.

Uppermill has been a no-go zone since Saturday evening with main roads covered in snow and ice, untouched by machine and as I write on Monday night, council gritters are possibly due to be entered on the world wildlife list of animals close to extinction in 2010.

While the white elephant office block of the PCT remains without tenants and our rates being poured down yet another black hole, the people of Oldham are forced to suffer the same fate by not being able to get to work.

Use the train I hear you say, well that would be okay if certain stations were not shut, prices astronomical and not enough carriages.

Well, the coffers are empty (again), the grit bins empty (were they ever filled?) the stations are shut (will they ever reopen?) and the council has no leadership, no vision and poor management.

Worst-run council in Europe!!!

A BARLOW



:: IT is good to see Oldham Council getting their gritters out for the people of Saddleworth once more! What a disgrace. When you see Tameside Council’s gritters going up and down Manchester/Huddersfield Road, where the Royal George is, every 30-40 minutes or so, and not one from Oldham Council, it’s just a joke. Fair enough, they may have finally got up here, but it was far too late. The least they could do would be to fill the grit boxes up though so people can grit their own roads. It’s not good enough Oldham Council.

LEFT OUT IN THE COLD



:: WHY do the good people of Oldham continue to put up with a council that is at best useless. The state of the roads is shameful. At 7pm on Sunday, Ripponden Road was a skating rink.

The current shower blame their shortcomings on the previous shower. When will it end?

NEAL PEMBERTON



:: DESPITE ringing the highways snowline number Cherrytree Gardens estate off Warren Lane, Oldham, has still not received any help with respect to getting the steep hills gritted or salt dropped off. Being disabled, this is now the third day my car has been stuck on the estate. I find it a total disgrace.

DON ROBERTSON



:: I DON’T know how they can claim that gritting took place to be honest! My husband almost didn’t get home from work at 9pm on Saturday evening due to the ungritted roads (Manchester Road included). Yet on Sunday, my parents living in Bury were able to travel freely whereas we were more or less housebound. If other boroughs can do it then why can’t we?

KAZZA699



:: MY neighbour has just got home from work. He’s a bus driver on the 409 route — none of Royton has been gritted. He’s just been saying Oldham town centre closed down on Tuesday and the buses into Manchester were travelling on the bypass because it was that bad in the town centre. Where have the gritters been?

POPPY BLUE



:: Last Saurday we had been for a meal in Greenfield. On our way home we encountered the bad weather. Going down the hill towards Grotton was horrendous. As we got into the dip at Grotton (opposite the Grotton Hotel) there was a gritter parked up . . . minus driver. Was the driver in the Grotton Hotel I ask myself?

LYNNE ROBERTS



:: DOES the Oldham Council Highways Department look at the weather forecast?

On Saturday evening a journey from Balfour Street to New Earth Street took 25 minutes, due to the appalling road conditions. Lees Road was gridlocked as no doubt were most roads in the borough. Why were the roads not gritted? It beggers belief that this is allowed to happen.

IAN MILLER



:: FAR be it from me to doubt the words of the council, but of six people in conversation on Monday evening in the Royton/Chadderton area only one had sighted a gritter and none of us could remember hearing the sound of grit rattling under our cars.

And I simply cannot believe that Springfield Road at Thornham has had any serious attention, even though it is a bus route.

SIDEWAYS