The council finally agreed to extend the gritting hours and it is an enormous relief to know our roads will be safer this winter. I am drained from this long fight but I am grateful that we stayed focused until they moved. We have to keep watching the service to …
April 30, 2018
Final supporters
The aim of this petition is to have Orkney Islands Council extend their existing Gritting operational times to provide a more effective salt/Gritting coverage and make our roads safer. I propose a starting time of 5am with additional nightshift cover as required during low/freezing conditions. These operational changes will help reduce the risks associated with driving in winter to many commuters and essential services throughout Orkney. Your emergency services such as ambulance, police, fire brigade, coast guard, etc. are put at risk driving in icy conditions. Many other valuable services are also affected such as home caters, taxis, buses, ferries and airport staff to name a few. With your help we could make Orkney roads safer in winter.
some of you reading this may think 'I don't drive so it doesn't affect me', but imagine you or a loved one requires immediate hospital care in the middle of the night (freezing conditions) and the ambulance takes twice as long to reach you due to the road conditions. This type of situation could have serious implications to the patient.
As for costs, each time a vehicle goes of the road various services are called to attend the scene such as the police, ambulance, fire brigade, road sweeper, etc. All these services have administration costs, call out charges, employee wages or treatment costs.
If we accept the cutbacks this year and don't inform the council of our concerns it will be classed as a success with the potential of being cut back further next year.
I personally would like to think that the safety of Orkney's residents and visitors is the highest priority
Updates
March 3, 2018
The feedback I keep hearing about the state of our roads during these cold mornings is both heartbreaking and exhausting. I am spending my evenings documenting these experiences to hand over to the council because they need to understand the human cost of their current policy. It is a slow and frustrating process but I am not walking away from this fight.
Reached 100 supporters
March 3, 2018
56 Comments
If they started earlier they may be able to get round the housing estates. Essential for care workers looking after people in their own homes.
I have to go to work at 5 am to work on the pier at Stromness for Northlink and when I go to work the the roads aren't gritted for workers/passengers for the ferry.
Having come here this winter from a much colder place with much more tricky weather conditions I was very surprised at the poor service here. Oic needs to grit over 24 hour period (as needed) to keep roads as safe as possible for travellers.
I support this petition wholeheartedly for many of the reasons given - not least to make the roads safe for emergency services and those supporting the more vulnerable in our community... And especially those needing to travel to work outside the current operating hours - which I suspect is a majority of our working population.
Absolutely! OIC have Home Care night support workers who require to visit clients during the night as well as emergency services having to go out. It's quite simple..put the gritters on a split shift system.
Definitely need more gritting done to Orkney roads when there is snow and ice. At the moment there is a severe lack of gritting being done
I work shifts in an essential service so need the roads to be safe and clear in the early hours (from 6am) to late (10.30) for traveling to and from work in Kirkwall
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The council finally agreed to extend the gritting hours and it is an enormous relief to know our roads will be safer this winter. I am drained from this long fight but I am grateful that we stayed focused until they moved. We have to keep watching the service to …
April 30, 2018
Final supporters
The aim of this petition is to have Orkney Islands Council extend their existing Gritting operational times to provide a more effective salt/Gritting coverage and make our roads safer. I propose a starting time of 5am with additional nightshift cover as required during low/freezing conditions. These operational changes will help reduce the risks associated with driving in winter to many commuters and essential services throughout Orkney. Your emergency services such as ambulance, police, fire brigade, coast guard, etc. are put at risk driving in icy conditions. Many other valuable services are also affected such as home caters, taxis, buses, ferries and airport staff to name a few. With your help we could make Orkney roads safer in winter.
some of you reading this may think 'I don't drive so it doesn't affect me', but imagine you or a loved one requires immediate hospital care in the middle of the night (freezing conditions) and the ambulance takes twice as long to reach you due to the road conditions. This type of situation could have serious implications to the patient.
As for costs, each time a vehicle goes of the road various services are called to attend the scene such as the police, ambulance, fire brigade, road sweeper, etc. All these services have administration costs, call out charges, employee wages or treatment costs.
If we accept the cutbacks this year and don't inform the council of our concerns it will be classed as a success with the potential of being cut back further next year.
I personally would like to think that the safety of Orkney's residents and visitors is the highest priority
Updates
March 3, 2018
The feedback I keep hearing about the state of our roads during these cold mornings is both heartbreaking and exhausting. I am spending my evenings documenting these experiences to hand over to the council because they need to understand the human cost of their current policy. It is a slow and frustrating process but I am not walking away from this fight.
Reached 100 supporters
March 3, 2018
56 Comments
I have to drive from Deerness to Kirkwall to get to work. I am a community responder and work shifts. It has been pretty scary getting too and from work at times.if the roads could get gritted an hour earlier it would make such a difference
If they started earlier they may be able to get round the housing estates. Essential for care workers looking after people in their own homes.
I have to go to work at 5 am to work on the pier at Stromness for Northlink and when I go to work the the roads aren't gritted for workers/passengers for the ferry.
Having come here this winter from a much colder place with much more tricky weather conditions I was very surprised at the poor service here. Oic needs to grit over 24 hour period (as needed) to keep roads as safe as possible for travellers.
I support this petition wholeheartedly for many of the reasons given - not least to make the roads safe for emergency services and those supporting the more vulnerable in our community... And especially those needing to travel to work outside the current operating hours - which I suspect is a majority of our working population.
Absolutely! OIC have Home Care night support workers who require to visit clients during the night as well as emergency services having to go out. It's quite simple..put the gritters on a split shift system.
Definitely need more gritting done to Orkney roads when there is snow and ice. At the moment there is a severe lack of gritting being done
I work shifts in an essential service so need the roads to be safe and clear in the early hours (from 6am) to late (10.30) for traveling to and from work in Kirkwall
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I have to drive from Deerness to Kirkwall to get to work. I am a community responder and work shifts. It has been pretty scary getting too and from work at times.if the roads could get gritted an hour earlier it would make such a difference