STV NewsAberdeenshire Council has spent a staggering £1.6 million clearing snow since January 1 – but says communities need to help as it can’t be everywhere at once.
Chief executive Jim Savege reflected on the local authority’s response to the recent snowy spell and revealed its next steps.
The council boss admitted that £1.6m has been spent this month alone to tackle snow showers.
Mr Savege revealed that half a million of that sum was used to pay the region’s “amazing” farmers and contractors.
“That is a colossal amount of cash that we’ve spent very properly to clear the road so people can go about their day-to-day lives,” he said.
“We couldn’t do that week in, week out – the coffers would run dry.”
During the extreme weather, many made calls for the council to call upon the military for help to clear roads across Aberdeenshire.
However, that didn’t happen as local authority bosses believed they had enough resources to cope without taking this drastic action.
Mr Savege was the one who called for military support back in November 2021 amid Storm Arwen.
The devastating storm brought thousands of trees down, but it also had other worrying impacts.
Communication infrastructure was damaged meaning phones couldn’t work properly and internet connections were down across the region.
The council chief explained the military was needed then as staff couldn’t contact vulnerable people.
“We couldn’t easily phone them up and say, ‘Are you ok?’,” he explained.
“We went round and knocked 5,500 doors to make sure people were ok.
“In the circumstances that require it we’ll absolutely go and get the right help.
“It’s a team conversation between us, health, police, fire and the military about what resources we need to get in.”
Earlier this month, the council had help from around 170 farmers who cleared roads in more rural areas.
It had extra assistance from infrastructure firm Amey and other councils, including Angus, Dundee City, and Dumfries and Galloway, too.
“We had enough resource to be able to borrow kit from other authorities or contractors that we didn’t need to ask the military for help.
“They’re the last port of call you go to.”
During the snowy spell, council officers made it clear that getting roads cleared was a “priority” in a bid to keep communities moving.
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