Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Moray road upgraded to a priority one gritting route after campaign

Generic photograph of a gritter out on the roads.

Picture by Kami Thomson.
Generic photograph of a gritter out on the roads. Picture by Kami Thomson.

Moray Council has performed a u-turn on its gritting policy and re-instated the Dallas to Knockando road as a priority one route.

Councillors voted yesterday to reverse the decision taken last year to downgrade the route to priority two, as part of a package of budget savings.

A motion proposed by Speyside and Glenlivet councillor Louise Laing, seconded by colleague Theresa Coull, moved that the priority one network be extended to include the road connecting Dallas and Knockando.

Also included in the motion was to lengthen the Rothiemay route to connect the existing priority one route on the B9118 with the nearby Aberdeenshire road, which will extend the route to cover the primary school, nursery and local amenities.

The move is expected to cost around £5,500 this winter season, which will be funded from the council’s reserves, and £15,000 allocated within the 2020/21 budget to cover the seasonal cost of the priority one extensions.

A review of the new gritting routes, implemented in October 2019, will be reported to the economic, development and infrastructure services committee later this year.

Council convener Shona Morrison said the decision will provide relief for residents and those who commute using the route.

She said: “It wasn’t an easy decision to downgrade the route in the first instance, however I’m thankful to residents and commuters who shared their experiences of travelling on the road this winter and I’m pleased we’ve been able to adjust the routes to reinstate gritting at minimal cost.”

Moray MP Douglas Ross welcomed the decision, saying “it is a victory for common sense”.

He added: “The users of this route should not have had to contact their local MP, set up a petition securing hundreds of signatures and write to the council demanding this change, as it was obvious to most people that the route being one of the highest in Moray was going to be adversely affected by wintry conditions and in need of early gritting.

The Dallas to Knockando road cuts through exposed areas of hillside and is one of the highest in the region.

The original move to downgrade the route caused concern among both communities during the winter amidst reports of at least four vehicles coming off the road.