Snow wardens
During times of extreme weather, smaller communities don’t receive as much help as they would like. Through the Snow Warden Scheme we will provide advice, training and salt to community groups and parish councils who are helping each other on a voluntary basis.
The snow warden is the key point of contact between Devon County Council (DCC) and the local community and is primarily a co-ordination role. You will receive support from your parish council and the local neighbourhood highway officer.
What does a snow warden do?
The snow warden is working on behalf of the parish council, not DCC, and will deliver winter maintenance support, determined by parish or town councils, to their communities. This includes:
- ordering grit supplies
- keeping a register of local trained volunteers
- receiving and responding locally to weather alerts
- organising and deploying volunteers to clear snow
- organising and deploying volunteers to spread grit when icy conditions are forecast
- encouraging responsible use of grit/salt and help to minimise the abuse of grit/salt within communities
Snow warden volunteers
If you would like to help but cannot commit to being a fully registered snow warden, you can become a volunteer. Volunteers can assist with:
- spreading grit
- clearing snow
- refilling grit bins and bags
- reporting issues with grit bins and bags online
Salt
DCC is pledging to provide up to five tonnes of salt free of charge to parishes that sign up to the scheme.
We have arrangements in place whereby further salt can be purchased through our own contract supply arrangements in the region of £100 per tonne dumpy bag (smaller bags may be an option at a higher price) where parish and town councils wish to purchase more themselves (for example if they purchase their own tow-along gritter).
However, because of the amount of salt used by tow-along gritters, users must ensure that they have considered the cost and storage requirements of the salt required.
If the stored salt becomes hard or sticks together following wet or damp conditions there are a couple of ways of righting this. The ideal way would be to dry it out using some drying facility however this is not something that many parishes will have access to, therefore we suggest emptying the salt out, spreading it out and breaking it up by hitting it with something hard and leaving it to dry in the sun. This will enable you to sweep it up and re-bag it.
How do I get involved?
For more information on how to sign up, find out if your parish is already involved with the snow warden scheme, or if you just want more information on what they do, please see our dedicated snow warden scheme page.