Snow paralyses much of district

Snow paralyses much of district

23 January 2013

WINTRY conditions across the district caused havoc for motorists and pedestrians on Monday.

Drivers struggled for control of their vehicles in heavy snow with Saintfield, Ballynahinch, Spa, Castlewellan, Kilcoo, Leitrim and Carryduff some of the worst affected areas.

Conditions at the Clonvaraghan Road outside Castlewellan leading to Slieve Croob were treacherous, while on Monday afternoon, Down Council closed the Bann Road household recycling centre in Castlewellan due to deteriorating weather conditions. The centre was closed again on Tuesday along with the Ballykine recycling centre in Ballynahinch.

The weather also played havoc with a number of nursery, primary and post-primary schools across the district forced to close yesterday. Many local schools closed with pupils who attend schools in neighbouring Carryduff, Ballygowan and Hillsborough also having the day off.

The first snowfall of the year caused disruption for commuters making their way home on Friday evening and a number of homes across the district were left without power as a result of high winds.

Power NI said 6,200 customers in the Downpatrick, Newcastle and Hillsborough areas were left without power for a time, with the majority of those affected having their supply restored by engineers on Saturday afternoon.

Snow blowers were also deployed over the weekend, but one of them got into difficulty at the Slievenaman Road near Bryansford and had to be towed to safety by local farmer and Down councillor, Dessie Patterson.

There were many tales of long journeys home including a Clough woman who took five hours in a bus getting from Belfast on Friday evening.

Heavy snow returned with a vengeance on Monday forcing local people who work in Belfast and Lisburn to head home early.

Many commuters were caught up in a major tailback at the Saintfield Road leading from Belfast to Carryduff, while vehicles were also backed up along the main road from Carryduff to Saintfield, with motorists taking around an hour to complete the eight mile journey.

Road conditions at The Temple area near Saintfield were described as treacherous and the snow disrupted some Translink services.

The Roads Service deployed gritting lorries across the district and snow blowers were also used to help keep roads clear. The situation at Spa outside Ballynahinch on Monday afternoon was so bad that two snowploughs were deployed in a bid to keep the main road running through the centre of the village open.

Monday’s heavy snowfall sparked a fresh appeal to the Roads Service to include the Clonvaraghan Road outside Castlewellan on its gritting schedule.

Newcastle councillor Patrick Clarke said the road is a designated school bus route but does not presently meet the criteria to be included on the schedule.

“This particular road is widely used and when temperatures plummet it is one of the first in the district to be affected by freezing conditions. Many people use this particular route, including schoolchildren, and I would appeal to roads officials to reconsider their decision not to grit it,” he said.

Councillor Clarke added: “I fully appreciate that the Roads Service is inundated with requests for various areas to gritted but I genuinely believe that the Clanvaraghan Road should feature on its gritting schedule. The safety of the people who use it is of paramount importance.”

Schools which closed on Tuesday — Alexander Dickson Primary, Ballygowan, Carrickmannon Primary, Drumlins Integrated Primary, Ballynahinch, Spa Primary, St. Mary’s Primary, Killyleagh, Academy Primary, Saintfield, Assumption Grammar School, St Joseph’s Primary, Carryduff, Derryboy Primary, Crossgar, Ballynahinch High School, Cumran Primary, Clough, Holy Family Primary, Teconnaught, St. Patrick’s Primary, Ballynahinch, Shimna Integrated College, St Malachy’s Primary, Kilcoo.