Get Your Salt in Now in Time for Winter

Resident and community groups can get free salt to grit their streets from Hertfordshire County Council, as they start to gear up for the winter.

The Council is also offering salt to schools for use on the highway, to help them stay open during icy weather, as well as to parish and town councils, who can use their local knowledge to identify exactly where best to use the salt during severe weather.

District and borough councils that help with clearing high priority pavements can apply for up to 30 tonnes of salt to assist with highway treatments at no cost.

Resident associations and community groups can apply for between one and 34 20kg bags of salt, schools, parish and town councils can request 34 20kg bags or one tonne in a hippo-style grab bag. Last year some 220 local groups took advantage of the offer, and we distributed nearly 100 tonnes of additional salt to local communities.

Phil Bibby, Executive Member for Highways and Transport at Hertfordshire County Council said:’It may seem quite early to be thinking about snow and ice, but it’s important to plan ahead and be prepared. We’ve already ordered thousands of tonnes of salt for the county’s main roads, but we will need to order more and, as in previous years, we’re happy to order extra salt for organisations who want to help keep their local roads and pavements clear.

‘Our gritters aren’t able to get everywhere and it’s important that we are able to maintain the working infrastructure across the county, so it’s a real help when local groups are willing to do their bit too.’

The salt will be provided for use on the public highway, not on private property, only one delivery of salt at the beginning of the winter can be made.

Apply online at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/applyforsalt before Monday 31 October.

For more information about Hertfordshire County Council’s winter service programme, including the routes that are gritted, or to receive real-time updates direct to your computer or mobile phone, visit www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/salting and follow the ‘salting decisions’ link. You can also find information on how to clear snow and ice yourself.

You can also find out the latest salting decisions by following on Twitter via #grittertwitter on www.twitter.com/Herts_Highways.