Snow-blowers are weather saviours
Dear Editor Once again we have had a demonstration of how unsuitable it is for the ‘farm road’ known as Powis Loan, near Blairlogie, to be classified as a ‘primary trunk road’ serving all the Hillfoots communities and beyond.
This time it was evident during the recent spell of not untypical Scottish weather. Just a foot of snow and a little drifting was enough to close the road completely.
Even when Stirling Council’s wholly inadequate, oldfashioned ploughs did manage to get through, the carriageway was still not wide enough for two large vehicles to pass in opposite directions.
It was a classic demonstration of a typical Stirling farce. We had to turn round in the farm entrance and come back. And who cares about the cyclists and pedestrians.
When will the council get its act together? I am ashamed.
I spoke to a cousin who runs several farms in Cumbria. He told me that, of course, all the major roads in the county were open, because their council uses powerful snow-blowers, as in other European and Scandinavian countries. The farmers also have to get to their animals to feed them, with lambing already having started.
It is only the minor roads, of which there are so many, which cannot be cleared immediately.
Powis Loan is not a minor road, nor can the country afford to lose the business. How many snow blowers does Stirling have in its arsenal? I have yet to see one. A snowblower would have cleared Powis Loan in 10 minutes, or less.
Even I have had to place an order for a domestic model but sadly too late for this season. I did get one earlier, but it had to go back as being inadequate.
Alastair Maxwell-Irving Telford House Blairlogie