Cllr Ann Le Blond

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the team at South Lanarkshire Council who have worked tirelessly over the past week to deal with the snow.

I understand that a lot of people have felt frustrated because they have not seen the gritters or their road has not been done, but I can assure they have been working 24/7 for the past week.

Even when the snow goes away this team need to replenish stock and get prepared in case we have more snow.

It is a difficult job in Scotland to plan for inclement weather, one week it can be snowing and the next week it can be floods.

They have a thankless job and I would ask that you really take a moment to think about how hard it can be for them and realise what a fabulous job they have done for us.

I would like to remind the readers that South Lanarkshire is one of the biggest councils.

It stretches from the edge of Glasgow down to Biggar and the problems we face here in Rutherglen and Cambuslang are completely different to those down in the more rural areas.

The council has a tough task. Whilst we know that the snow impacts some of our vulnerable and elderly in towns, the majority of them do live in a community with neighbours.

In the rural areas, some people live miles from anyone else.

So please do think of your community in the snow, help grit some paths or ask a neighbour if they need any supplies if they cannot get out to go to shops or the chemist.

Some of the queries that I have had from constituents, I would like to share here and hopefully give you a bit more of an insight into what the council does and has been trying to achieve.

The council makes sure, as far as possible, that main roads are safe and clear to use but unfortunately it is not practical or affordable to grit all roads and footpaths. No council can do this.

It grits about 52 per cent of the roads when ice or snow is forecast; which is more than the Scottish average of 47 per cent. There are grit bins in the area so please report if these are empty but also please use them to help your community.

It also grits main footpaths in town centres when ice or snow is forecast. If there has been a lot of snow workers will clear and grit other main footpaths. Generally though footpaths in residential areas will not be gritted.

The council can call on a fleet of 48 gritters, 43 snowploughs, one snowblower, 24 tractors and six loaders. Road workers (more than 200 of them) use these to salt the roads, clear snow and keep road and footpaths in a safe condition.

There are about 1,000 miles of non-motorway main roads and 25,000 miles of pavements in South Lanarkshire. The team works 24 hours a day to try and keep these clear.

Please log any issues that you have had on the website or speak to one of your councillors.