IFA suggest farmers to grit roads

bombadil

IFA Deputy President-elect Eddie Downey has called on Environment Minister John Gormley to allow local authorities to contract local farmers to carry out salting and road clearing in future following the events of past days. What a fantasic idea.. then we can pay them not to grit roads during the summer as compensation for lost earnings during these harsh unsalting months. Of course a suitable sheme will also be set up for disadvantaged road salting areas with little or no roads to salt which will attract a premium payment based on roads that would have to be salted if said roads existed... salt the roads, wouldnt trust ye with the wheel barrow!:)

karlr42

The issue is a lack of salt, not of staff performing the gritting.

delta_bravo

A similar idea in Cork by the IFA was rejected by the council due to that all encompassing excuse: 'health and safety'

101sean

The authority I worked for in the UK paid selected farmers to clear roads after heavy snowfall, we even used to supply the farmers with the blades and inspected them once a year. They were only paid when told to clear by us. We would also pay local contractors to do the same when it got very bad.

cargo

and i wonder how many of the tractors would be running on white diesel then seeing as they would be operating for hire and reward and not for agri ppurposes.

road_high

cargo wrote: »

and i wonder how many of the tractors would be running on white diesel then seeing as they would be operating for hire and reward and not for agri ppurposes.

Jeese, who cares long as they are helping to clear the roads and making things move again.

cargo

mfitzy wrote: »

Jeese, who cares long as they are helping to clear the roads and making things move again.

Don't worry mfitzy, only taking a light hearted pop at them. Just sounded so "knight in shining armour" on tv yesterday. Not a bad idea with a bit of longer term planning as outlined above.

DDigital

Read a similar story tonight elsewhere about Boston. They regularly spend their budget in double quick time and then hire in contractors to keep things moving after that.

Stark

Was in work today and a couple of tractors came into the (privately owned) industrial estate and started clearing the snow out of the place.

Victor

DDigital wrote: »

Read a similar story tonight elsewhere about Boston. They regularly spend their budget in double quick time and then hire in contractors to keep things moving after that.

If the budget was already spent, how do they afford the contractors?

corktina

would these farmers be doing this as an act of community spirit or would they be looking for lots of dosh? Anyone want to bet how many farmers would do their own passages with council salt?

Del2005

cargo wrote: »

and i wonder how many of the tractors would be running on white diesel then seeing as they would be operating for hire and reward and not for agri ppurposes.

Once it's an Agri vehicle it uses green diesel. Why do you think there are so many monster tractors driving around the roadwork areas hauling away the spoil. There has been some noise from truck hauliers over this but no one is doing anything about it.

Aidan1

Once it's an Agri vehicle it uses green diesel.

Nope, if it's doing non agri work, it should be using white diesel, end of story.

Riskymove

Victor wrote: »

If the budget was already spent, how do they afford the contractors?

you aren't thinking like a bureaucrat!!


Their "Overtime budget" was spent not their "contractor budget"!!!!!

Colm R

I was clearing some ice in front of my house today, and a neighbour told me to very careful. He was implying that a nearby neighbour would take the opportunity to "fall" on my treated surface.

spongeman

karlr42 wrote: »

The issue is a lack of salt, not of staff performing the gritting.

No its the staff. They are not doing their job properly.

And its not the farmers jobs to grit the roads. They are already getting screwed over by the supermarkets etc.

scaniaman

Farmers no doubt would have the equipment to do it and there's a few on every road. I'd do it myself if asked no bother and round up a few more as well.
I think farmers in west cork offered to grit the roads but were fobbed off by the council with some elf n safety nonsense:mad:

bog master

Aidan1 wrote: »

Nope, if it's doing non agri work, it should be using white diesel, end of story.

Makes no difference what the job the vehicle/plant/tractor is doing.

"Appendix 7 It may be used for domestic and industrial heating, in generators, in lawnmowers, in stationary motors, in agricultural tractors and in certain purpose built vehicles which are specified in law, e.g. mobile cranes, road rollers, etc. "

101sean

fobbed off by the council with some elf n safety nonsense

That's the problem, there seems to be no pre-arranged emergency plan for calling on pre-vetted 'volunteers' to supply equipment in an emergency. It's all very well saying the army are available which is fine for emergency 4x4 transport but they don't have the range of equpment that may be needed for snow clearance etc. There's been nothing bad enough (yet!) that warrants the army's assistance despite Willie O'Dea's assurance that they are ready and waiting for the call!! There's been no mention of Civil Defence who played some part in the flooding crisis, should they be co-ordinating with social services to ensure the elderly etc are checked on, do they even have the 4x4s to do the job?

The UK also has 4x4 owner response groups that co-ordinate with the emergency services but Ireland probably hasn't enough local groups of owners (they'd soon fall out anyway :rolleyes:) for this to be a formal part of the plan. We've probably come to rely too much on the authorities to ensure we can do what we want to do but the incompetant bunch of muppets supposedly in charge shows we need to go back to a certain extent of self reliance and neigbourlyness.

We've seen nothing yet, looks like even the UK with it's own salt mines is running out fast as are Germany and Holland.

parsi

There is nothing stopping a group of concerned farmers from gritting their local roads just like they did in the Black Valley.

The problem seems to be that they are aksing for permission (this is so unlike farmers) and the local authorities are probably thinking "hmm... if we say yes then do we incur a liability in respect of farmers gritting roads, and when that's finished are we incurring a payment to compensate for the farmers not being required to grit the roads"

parsi

101sean wrote: »

Ireland probably hasn't enough local groups of owners (they'd soon fall out anyway :rolleyes:) for this to be a formal part of the plan. We've probably come to rely too much on the authorities to ensure we can do what we want to do but the incompetant bunch of muppets supposedly in charge shows we need to go back to a certain extent of self reliance and neigbourlyness. .

So we have muppets in charge but yet its ok that we have morons who can't even group together ?

jgw4321

A company in york called "vale sprayers" is building a big trailer spreader/gritter for farmers to grit with, makes sense wagons can't get any traction on compacted snow

dowlingm

In Ontario a lot of landscaping companies mount snowploughs on their trucks and are contracted to standby during weather warnings - gives them a winter income they otherwise wouldn't have. Not a 9-5 thing though!