I REFER to the headline in Thursday's Bolton Evening News entitled: Salt hopper comes a cropper, and I wish to clarify the position with regard to the use of the hopper.

To improve the overall effectiveness of its winter maintenance activities, including the gritting of roads in the borough, the Council agreed in 1997 to major investment in new plant and equipment. The proposals included the acquisition of nine new 'state of the art' salt gritters, the construction of a barn to store salt in dry clean conditions and the installation of a hopper that would speed up the loading of the gritters in adverse weather conditions. Furthermore, the gritting routes were revised so as to optimise speed and performance.

The acquisition of the vehicles was completed by Autumn 1997 and proved their worth, both last, as well as this winter. The new gritting routes are now being used and this has resulted in the total time for gritting routes being significantly reduced.

Unfortunately because we experienced a particularly mild winter in 1997/96 the project to build the salt barn had to be deferred, because, quite simply, the cost of temporarily relocating the large stock of salt to another site to enable the barn to be built, was prohibitive.

Which brings me to the subject of the salt hopper. The hopper is an integral part of the overall project and does not stand in isolation. Because of the practical difficulties I have described above, the decision was taken to install the hopper in advance of the barn. However, it was never intended that it be used until the salt could be stored in a dry and clean state. Indeed, the manufacturer's recommendations are that, because of the corrosive effect of salt, the hopper should not be used when salt is wet.

In your article you suggest that the Council could not use the hopper because the salt was 'TOO WET'. This is true, but then we never had planned to use it until the barn is constructed and the salt stored in dry conditions.

Cllr John Byrne

Chairman (Highways Sub-Committee)

Editor's note: While we appreciate the councillor's detailed explanation, it seems strange to spend taxpayers' money on a salt hopper before sorting out the problem with the salt storage. It's a little like buying a kettle without a plug.

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