Sunderland City Council reveals 780 tonnes of debris was removed following autumn storms

The figure was revealed as Sunderland City Council bosses provided an update on work done to date this year to tackle extreme weather, along with plans for future mitigation measures.

Marc Morley, city council director of environmental services, said the “significant snow event” last weekend (Sunday, December 3) is an example of the winter maintenance work the team provides.

He said: “It came, but we’d already prepared, we’d already gritted the roads. It just needed the cars to get on the road and activate the salt.

“We’ve had all of our staff trained. They have a requirement to have set training, and they’ve all been trained.

“We’ve also enhanced the fleet.”

He added that the authority’s refreshed winter service policy was adopted in October, while routes have been scrutinised and reviewed, and risk assessments and safe working practices updated ahead of the upcoming months.

Meanwhile, salt stocks have been increased to 12,500 tonnes, which are split between two depots in Woodbine Terrace in Pallion and in Houghton.

The comments were made at the latest meeting of the city council’s Economic Prosperity Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday (December 5).

Councillors heard the environmental services team’s work this year has already seen them deal with the aftermath of Storms Babet and Ciarán in recent months, which saw “circa 780 tonnes of debris removed from promenades and beaches.”

Mr Morley added: “It was a significant response from the teams.

“We have area teams, so the north team looks after that resort, but at that stage we had to bring teams in from across the city, it shows we will prioritise the priorities across whatever area it is.

“We had tractors from Hetton. We had tractors from Washington there, helping out on that recovery, and what that did show was we could act quickly.”

It comes after city leaders last month revealed damage to Wearside’s iconic Roker Pier caused by Storm Babet, which could cost up to £300,000 to repair.

Huge waves and strong winds destroyed several metres of railings during the storm, with sections of decking around the pier’s lighthouse also washed into the sea.

Council bosses said the damage had left the area unsafe for the public until repairs were carried out and that the attraction would remain closed “for some time”.

Meanwhile, Storm Ciarán also caused damage and flooding across Sunderland.