Volunteers throughout the county are being called on to help clear snow and ice from Derbyshire\u2019s roads and pavements this winter.
Derbyshire County Council would like to hear from residents and farmers willing to help keep their communities safe when bad weather hits.
Town and parish councils and other community groups are being asked to rally local people to join the council\u2019s Snow Warden Scheme.
Each council or group will get a free delivery of up to a tonne of bagged grit, be given training and advice on how to clear snow and ice safely and be kept up-to-date with specialist weather reports.
Farmers and others with ploughing or gritting equipment are also being asked to work as contractors to help keep their local roads on the move from October to next April.
Anyone taken on as a contractor will get \u00a3200 for signing up plus get extra payments for call outs.
Snow wardens get involved in:
\u2022 clearing snow and ice from their community\u2019s pavements
\u2022 reporting local weather conditions through the council\u2019s website
\u2022 co-ordinating volunteers to clear snow and distribute grit
\u2022 reporting empty grit bins.
Farmers and contractors need to:
\u2022 provide their own equipment
\u2022 be available to work 7am to 7pm, seven days a week \u2013 although extra help may be requested if conditions are particularly severe
\u2022 arrange appropriate insurance
\u2022 be able to respond to a call out within 90 minutes.
Councillor Simon Spencer, Derbyshire County Council\u2019s Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure, said: \u201cWhile it may seem early to be preparing for winter, especially with our recent stretch of warmer weather, the reality is it\u2019s not far off. We have to start planning now to make sure we have the right resources in place so we are ready when colder conditions arrive.
\u201cWe look after around 3,500 miles of roads and pavements and grit around half of them. These include our major roads, routes where there is only one way in or out of an area, major bus routes and roads serving emergency services\u2019 bases. But we can\u2019t be everywhere, which is why our volunteers and contractors are a vital resource, particularly in our more rural communities.\u201d
Councillor Spencer added: \u201cWe need people to sign up so we can make sure they have any materials and training they need, and while it\u2019s never too late to join up I\u2019d encourage anyone who\u2019d like to volunteer to get in touch as soon as possible.\u201d
Last year 62 town and parish councils helped clear snow and ice from pavements and footpaths along with 52 farmers and contractors helping protect their local communities.
Staff at 72 schools county schools also volunteered to clear snow and ice from outside their school gates to help make it safer for students to get inside school grounds.
Town and parish councils and other community groups interested in volunteering can find out more at www.derbyshire.gov.uk\/snowwardens. To sign up to the scheme email: snow@derbyshire.gov.uk
For information about the farmers and contractors scheme and to sign up go to www.derbyshire.gov.uk\/snowvolunteers. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Local volunteers wanted to help with gritting if theres snow and ice on the road this winter…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n