Tag: snow clearing

There’s snow stopping 21CC Group

  • Leading Scottish Event company put their tools to good use by clearing over 34 miles of roads 
  • Good deed enables 160 local residents to attend Covid vaccine appointments and 200 NHS and care workers to travel safely to work  

Scottish based events group, 21CC have put their tools to good use this week by taking matters into their own hands and using their work vehicle and snowplough to clear over 34 miles of road across Kirkliston and North Queensferry.  

After posting a message on their local community digital noticeboard, the team spent 14 hours over the course of two days clearing main roads, artery roads and the housing estate roads enabling residents’ safe access from their house to the main roads, so that they could travel to get their flu jabs.  

Geoff Crow, Director of 21CC Group Ltd said, “After the latest snowfall we quickly realised we could put our vehicles to use, and we decided to create a post on the digital community noticeboard, asking if anyone needed help. In a matter of hours, we had received over 160 messages from residents who needed to get out for their Covid-19 jabs, but were now stuck due to the snow! 

“We also received just under 200 messages from NHS and care workers, asking for assistance in clearing their roads so they could get to work, so we got to work immediately in clearing all of the roads where people needed our help.

“We also helped three Scottish Fire & Rescue vehicles by digging them out of the snow and clearing their path so that they could respond to call-outs.” 

Lance from Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “Geoff was a great help to myself as my street was not passable without his assistance. The road is not adopted by City of Edinburgh council for winter operations as such was covered in 150-200mm of snow.

“It took myself and volunteers from the street 4 hours the day previous to clear the snow, something Geoff managed to do in 15 minutes allowing the crewing levels for South Queensferry to be maintained.” 

21CC received hundreds of grateful messages following their rescue mission including: 

 “Thank you for clearing the road at our wee care home. Our residents loved seeing you hard at work!” 

“Thank you for doing this Geoff. It makes such a difference” 

“You’re doing a wonderful job for the community. Well done.”. 

Geoff concludes: “Being in the right place at the right time and being able to make a difference to all these people was so important to us and we’re just glad we could help to make a difference to a few people’s lives. It was also a lot of fun!” 

Council catches up with bin collections as conditions ease

Council staff have been working around the clock to minimise disruption after this week’s heavy snowfall in the city – and now bin collections have resumed too.

Roads service teams have been out day and night to clear snow from priority pavements, cycle paths and roads, as well as outside COVID vaccination centres. Due to the volume of snowfall they often need to treat and re-treat the the network to keep it passable.

As a result of the severe weather and lying snow the council took the decision to suspend all waste and cleansing services and close recycling centres. During this time, waste and cleansing staff will help gritting teams to clear snow as quickly as possible.

Transport and Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said on Tuesday: “We had our full fleet of gritters and mini-tractors out yesterday and throughout the night, treating roads, pavements and cycle lanes and clearing priority routes of snow.

“The team have been focusing on COVID vaccination centres and key arterial routes to make sure anyone needing to make an essential journey or to receive a COVID vaccination is able to.

Frontline staff in both roads and waste and cleansing services have been working tirelessly in the face of heavy snowfall, which can at times pose a safety risk. For this reason, we have decided to suspend waste collections, close recycling centres and cancel special uplifts, due to lying snow, for the safety of staff and the public. In the meantime, waste and cleansing staff will be assisting with snow-clearing efforts to help keep the city moving.

“We hope that everyone will understand that these are exceptional circumstances and that, while it may produce a temporary inconvenience for some residents, it is a sensible decision to prioritise safety for our crews and residents alike. We will resume waste collections as quickly as possible and thank the public for their patience – we will keep our website and social media updated with the latest information.”

Transport and Environment Vice Convener Councillor Karen Doran said: “Roads services teams have been working extremely hard overnight and will continue treating the city throughout the day. They will often need to revisit key routes multiple times to make sure they are passable when poor weather persists.

“With further snow and bitterly cold weather forecast we’ll need to concentrate on priority routes, revisiting these where necessary when further snow falls and ice forms. Squads will benefit from the assistance of waste and cleansing staff during this severe weather.

“I would encourage residents only to travel if it’s absolutely necessary and to take extra care if they do.”

Anyone with a booking for a recycling centre or a special uplift will receive an email about rebooking their appointment.

Further information and tips on clearing snow and gritting priority routes is available on the Council website.

Today will be largely dry with a maximum temperature of 2 – 3%; but there will be a few snow showers in eastern areas lingering through the day. Cloud will be patchy allowing for plenty of sunny spells. A little breezy.