A storm has blown up over Angus Council plans to recruit an army of volunteers to keep pavements clear this winter.
The authority’s decision to slash its mini-gritter fleet will leave villages across the county without any street clearing at all.
Critics say reduced town provision will also mean paths leading to some burgh schools will not be gritted.
The move has been described as a “shocking way to provide services in Angus and a very dangerous road to go down.”
There was further fury when a suggestion to set up a fighting fund for communities to tap into to buy snow-clearing equipment was blocked from being discussed at the authority’s first communities committee meeting following the summer recess in Forfar on Tuesday.
However, recently elected council leader David Fairweather fired a broadside at colleagues around the chamber, insisting the plans had been part of the council budget agreed at the beginning of the year.
The details of the pavement clearing proposals were contained in a winter maintenance information report to councillors, setting out the impact of a previous decision to dramatically reduce the mini-gritter fleet and wider proposals to tackle the elements within a budget of £2.6 million.
Administration member Richard Moore, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Arbroath West and Letham said: “I am very sorry that it has come to this.
“This will have an impact on the elderly, school children and the disabled. We will just have to see if we can get the public to get behind this.”
Brechin and Edzell SNP councillor Kenny Braes suggested setting up a £2,000 fund so communities could seek grants of up to £100 to buy equipment.
He was told the idea could not be discussed under the council’s standing orders, but the opposition group is hopeful the cash incentive scheme might go ahead as part of the authority’s existing Pride in Place programme.
Monifieth and Sidlaws SNP councillor Sheila Hands said: “This is a very dangerous road to go down –something as significant as this and we are tucking it away in an information report.”
Arbroath Independent Mr Fairweather responded: “I am finding it disappointing as well, but at the end of the day 28 members sat and voted for this to happen, that was the budget and that was agreed.
“It makes me wonder, did particular people read the budget papers?”
Carnoustie Independent David Cheape warned the council could take “a bit of a pasting” over the proposal.
“This is going to be felt burgh-wide. One minute we are crowing about budget savings and then we bring something like this forward,” he said.
“If there is one silver lining in this report it is that we will bring forward the ability to put salt stores in areas which in the past have requested them and have been told that there isn’t sufficient resource.”
