Blame Game Over Monday's Transport Chaos


Council denies it did not do enough to keep roads clear

A war of words has broken out over who was to blame for Monday's transport chaos following Sunday night's heavy snowfall and questions are being asked over whether local councils did enough to keep the roads clear.

As bus services were completely withdrawn on Monday morning, Transport for London said it was only responsible for 5% of the capital's roads and appeared to be blaming borough councils for not clearing the streets in their areas: "The vast majority of London's bus services operate along local authority-maintained roads which have been particularly affected by the heavy snowfall. We aim to restore services as soon as possible once roads have been treated and it is safe to do so," TfL said.

On the ShepherdsBushW12 and HammersmithToday Forums, several local residents also complained that they had seen no gritters out on the streets at all on Monday and one said Lyric Square in Hammersmith resembled a “skating rink”. On Tuesday, forum-writers complained that the pavements were still covered in black ice.

According to the Evening Standard, H&F is poorly equipped to deal with snow: "Hammersmith and Fulham Council only operates two gritting machines and no snow ploughs and was forced to suspend parking charges to allow parking attendants to help manually shovel snow. Councils were prioritising busy roads and routes to hospitals, stations and schools," the paper said.

However, the Council has denied accusations that it has not done enough: “The snow has undoubtedly caused disruption to all of London, however it is not true to suggest H&F Council hasn't been acting to do everything possible to keep the borough safe and moving," wrote Cllr Greg Smith, Cabinet Member for Crime and Street Scene on the HammersmithToday Forum.

"Gritters started work in the early hours of Monday morning, worked all day, dropping over 70 tonnes of grit salt onto main roads and footways. For most of the day this was split across two gritters. Along with our street cleansing contractor Serco and grounds maintenance contractor Quadron, the council has also redeployed staff to ensure grit salt is put down on as many footpaths as possible," he continued. 

"As an inner-London borough that faces events like this only once in every fifteen years there will always be practical difficulties in getting things moving as quickly as everyone would like. But we are doing everything we physically can to combat these extraordinary weather conditions. We will continue to work today and for as long as it takes.”  

Chairman of the Local Government Association Environment Board, Cllr Paul Bettison, said it was unfair to blame councils for the chaos: “Other organisations that are affected by the snow appear to be using councils as a scapegoate for their own poor preparations for the weather. The claim that it is local authorities' fault that they cannot run services needs to be treated with a huge pinch of gritting salt," he said.

Commuters and residents faced a second day of disruption on Tuesday with several Tube lines partially suspended and all of Hammersmith and Fulham's state schools, apart from one, closed.

However, most of the bus network was running again.

The Council's website warns that there may be more snow on the way: “Residents should be aware that, while the weather forecast is bright and sunny for the rest of today and Wednesday, there is the risk of more snow fall on Thursday and Friday this week,” it says.

3 February 2009