Dear Orkney News,
There has been a perceived reduced effectiveness of the previous excellent performance of the OIC snow and ice treatment/clearance of roads.I have previously sung the praises of this OIC department on Social Media as it wipes the floor with Manchester City for example.
Now this may only be a small sample and may well not hold good for the Islands as a whole. Specifically over the last 2 snowfalls, one about a week or so back and the current one, the Orphir to Kirkwall road, Germiston road, Heddle quarry road and Smoogro road do not appear to have been treated. Or hadn’t by midday, returning on the Kirkwall Orphir road later in the afternoon this one at least had then been treated. This is a bus route and I would have expected to have seen evidence of treatment before midday. Kirkwall roads including those leading to the Hospital appeared to be little better.
OIC has a fleet of 20 vehicles of various sizes to cover 611 miles of roads. They were out at 6 AM this morning. I saw 3 returning to Hatston on the Finstown road the front of one plastered with snow, presumably for a reload and if they were the same guys who were on the road at 6AM then a rest and a well deserved cuppa. I also saw a Transit sized vehicle treating the Kirkwall car parks in the afternoon.
May I humbly suggest Mesers OIC , that is a bit late to be treating the car parks where you have both pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
No pavements seem to have been cleared or treated at all.
Yours, Nick Morrison, Orkney
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