As highway authorities in the north of England grappled with latest snowfalls, their counterparts in the south were this week counting the cost of the region’s coldest winter since 1996.
The Met Office has confirmed the season was colder-than-average in the south, and warmer-than-average in the north. While Wales also had sub-normal temperatures, southern England was the coldest region at 0.4 oC below the 30-year average.
Many authorities have over-spent winter service budgets. Most were confident that highways maintenance would not suffer, with contingency funds making up the difference or negative balances carried forward to next year. But ~Kent County Council~ with the biggest deficit, is still considering how to plug a £500,000 hole.
‘The council's winter maintenance budget of £2.25M is already overspent by about £500,000,’ a Kent spokesman said. ‘We are exploring ways to meet this additional cost. Meanwhile, salting runs will continue when required,’ he stressed. Authorities in the Southeast had to mobilise their fleets unusually early, before Christmas. The gritters were out in West Sussex 57 times so far, compared with the winter average of 40. Each run costs about £13,000.
The resultant £200,000 overspend on its £1.7M budget will be met from a central contingency fund. With a similar budget, East Sussex put its overspend at £120,000. ‘Some of this will be met from the winter service budget for 2005/2006 through the contingency we build in. Any additional costs will be met through our winter service reserve,’ the council said. Dorset had made 66 gritting runs, consuming 9,500t of salt – double last winter’s 4,600t total, when the gritters were out 45 times.
The county is about £150,000 over its £1.2M budget, having wiped out last year’s surplus. ~Cornwall County Council~ where the county council and ~Highways Agency~ were caught out by early-season blizzards is facing a £300,000 deficit on its £845,000 budget after doubling last year’s salt usage. A spokeswoman said that maintenance works across the board would have to be deferred. In mid-Wales, call-outs were ‘probably three times the average in October,’ said ~John Owen~ chairman of CSS (Wales), but overspends would not be severe. ~Powys County Council~ would slip back into deficit, but this would be under-written by central resources, he said. But ~Surrey County Council~ was, so far, ‘almost spot-on’, with an average across the county of 50.7 runs compared with the 50 it had budgeted for – if gritters were not sent out again, said ~Peter Simmonds~ winter service manager. ‘At a cost of £35,000 a run, it’s easy to go significantly over,’ he said.
Register now for full access
Register just once to get unrestricted, real-time coverage of the issues and challenges facing UK transport and highways engineers.
Full website content includes the latest news, exclusive commentary from leading industry figures and detailed topical analysis of the highways, transportation, environment and place-shaping sectors.
Use the link below to register your details for full, free access.
Already a registered? Login
