DEVON’S heroic ranks of volunteer snow wardens proved to be a vital back-up to the County Council’s winter response over the past couple of weeks – just as they have over the past 10 years.

Around 325 towns and parishes in Devon have snow wardens in place as part of their self-help plans, should they be needed if the county suffers a prolonged spell of winter weather.

Devon County Council launched the snow warden scheme in 2011, following two harsh winters, and the numbers of volunteer snow wardens has continued to grow over the years.

And as the county was recently hit by snow they stepped up to the plate and took the time to treat their local roads that the county’s gritters can’t get to.

Cllr Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Highway Management and who himself is a snow warden for Sidmouth and Sidford, said: ‘We have seen the vital support that snow wardens have provided during major snow events, and our thanks go to all the volunteers who generously give their time.

‘Our Control Centre contact s them when bad weather is on its way, and then they can spring into action to salt their local roads to help people get out onto the gritted network. We can only grit about 2,000 miles of our 8,000 mile network, so any additional miles by the snow wardens to keep Devon moving has to be welcomed.’

Devon County Council has 37 frontline gritters available to treat 2,000 miles of primary and secondary salting routes, covering around 25 per cent of the county’s road network, and last winter, around 9,500 tonnes of salt were used on Devon’s roads.

But the county is unable to grit and salt many of the more rural roads, and that is where the snow wardens come in, and in the event of a prolonged cold spell, the volunteers grit their priority roads and clear snow as part of their community’s self-help plans.

Among the volunteers is Parish Councillor Andrew Turner, who is one of the snow wardens, who said: ‘We been in the scheme since its inception and it’s been a big success. In those past 10 years we’ve ploughed around six times, but we’ve been out dozens of times to grit when it’s icy on the roads. When we’re needed we’ve got a very good team that goes out there and get things done.

‘We’ve got about nine people in the parish signed up to the scheme and it works very well. We’re all volunteers, but we’re lucky that we’ve got our own equipment. The Parish Council bought the gritting machine and the county council supplies the salt.

‘It’s not just us locals working together, it’s the parish working with Devon County as well; it makes life so much easier and works very well.

‘We realise the county council has limited resources and can’t grit everywhere, so we can link up the minor roads to help people get onto the main roads. A lot of people don’t know we’re even out at night-times, but you can see where we’ve been in the morning which makes all the difference.

‘If severe snow is predicted, Devon County Council let us know and we can get salt down on the lanes, we can get machinery ready so we’re prepared in advance whereas years ago communities weren’t prepared. When we had really heavy snow a couple winters ago, we snow ploughed the roads to help the ambulance service get to an elderly patient.

‘We’ve moved forward so much over those 10 years with the help of the County Council and the Parish Council and our own volunteers, and I’m sure we will over the next 10 years. All we’re trying to do is help local people.’

Peter Smerdon was among the first to sign up to the scheme when it launched in 2011 after consecutive severe winters in 2009 and 2010, and he says that it’s made the roads in their parish safer during the winter season.

He said: ‘The scheme works very well. Devon County Council has helped finance the salt-spreader and keep us supplied with salt and they ask each year if we need to top up our salt stores.

‘The winters of 2009 and 2010 made us realise if we were going to make the roads safer for residents to use then we needed a bit of local control.

‘We prioritise the places that need to be done first. It’s allowed us to grit those steep hills to allow residents to get out of the village to reach the A38, get to work, or whatever they have to do.

‘Since signing up to the snow warden scheme we’ve had two or three winters when we’ve had to use our salt spreader quite a bit and it’s been really helpful. It’s a case of trying to help the community to keep the wheels turning.’

Snow warden John Barrow was also among the first in the county to sign up to Devon County Council’s volunteer snow warden scheme when it launched 10 years ago.

And now Mr Brarrow says he’s contemplating helping out for another decade – with the help of his son and grandson.

He said: ‘It was a brilliant idea of the council when they started the Snow warden scheme ten years ago, especially for out of the way places. That’s why we joined in year one.

‘The council’s trying to help people to help themselves. I believe in helping yourself a little bit, not sitting back and waiting for someone else to do everything. This is why I think it’s a good scheme.

‘Before this scheme started the local farmers used to get themselves out because they wanted the milk lorry to come, and by the time each farmer had joined up you had quite a lot of roads cleared. That was off their own back to do it. Not everybody has got the use of a tractor but most of the snow wardens I know around here are agricultural engineers or farmers.

‘The Beast from the East was the worst winter we’ve had since we’ve been in the scheme but there have been other odd little blips that have only lasted for a day.

‘We’re high enough up here that if you have a shower of rain it can freeze, but the benefit of having a bit of salt around can make it possible for people to keep moving.

‘I’d like to think I could stick another 10 years – it would be great. But I’m sure my son or my grandson will carry on if I didn’t do it.’

The volunteers all receive advice and training from Devon County Council on how to clear snow and spread salt effectively. The local authority also covers third party public liability for the treatment undertaken as part of the Snow warden scheme.

To find out more about the Snow warden scheme go to https://new.devon.gov.uk/communities/opportunities/snow-warden-scheme or contact Parish Council representatives who can liaise with their local Neighbourhood Highway Officer.