It’s like the mafia, just when you thought you were free it pulls you back.
It’s winter, so of course I’m fascinated at how the public sector is communicating gritting and transport problems. Isn’t everyone?
Going back more than 15 years there was a group of us who used Twitter to tweet grit updates. Twitter Gritter was new stuff. We found that when we tweeted in real time that the team had gone out some people felt informed.
Other people would make the same range of comments. Is my street gritted? So, we created a grit map and linked it in a stock response. Have you even been out? We told them what time and when.
We got a bit bolder and would say things like:
Grit is not fairy dust. It will not make the roads behave like they do on a warm summer day and turn cars into bumper cars.
In January 2026, snow and ice has hit parts of England, Wales and Scotland.
So, I was drawn in to see how one channel in particular has been performing and what tactics have been working.
I looked at some metrics on Facebook so I could compare and contrast.
This isn’t exhaustive by any means.
Here’s what I learned.
If you take away grit bins people will kick off
In Dudley, where I live, the council decided to remove more than 300 grit bins to save money. I’ve long thought that the Holy Trinity of local gov comms is gritting, potholes and dog mess. Mess with gritting and you are asking for trouble.
No shade on the Dudley Council comms team, but almost 10 per cent of comments made on Facebook were negative. There was very little evidence of replies to those comments. Even a link to the comments and complaints page would have been an idea. I get why people are reluctant to engage. I do.
Open the door and customer services walks straight in
People are making observations about areas where grit is needed, roads are icy or action needs to be taken. There was little evidence of this being gathered and sent through to the teams where this could make a difference. As a resident, this must be frustrating.
Switching off comments is an option
One council, Highland Council, turned off commenting entirely. There’s absolutely no way that people can have their comment overlooked if they can’t make one. I won’t be harsh as I don’t know the reasoning for this. I wouldn’t rule it out on principle.
Dealing with comments is also an option
ScotRail in particular dealt with comments as they came in. But they’re a rail company and rail companies have historically have the resources to be brilliant at this. If you acknowledge people they will like it. There was little negativity on this page.
If you communicate in a timely manner people will thank you
Aberdeenshire Council’s page showed positive comments outranking negative four to one. That’s not always the way.
Communicating everything is an option
One council posted 44 times in three days. They cover a large area so this is understandable. But what this has the benefit of is creating within that hyperlocal content which is then sharable. People from that particular community can relate to that particular road closure.
Content which shows what you are up against flies
The stills from the cab of a gritter lorry facing snow drifts is compelling.
Shares… just look at the shares
Once again, this small snapshot shows that Facebook isn’t about the page. It’s about ther page creating sharable content that can be shared across Facebook. Groups are a big part of this. An update on an issue in a particular community will see that content shared in that particular community.
Snow and grit is a mental health issue
This isn’t shown in the numbers directly but the level of abuse and criticism does take a toll. Those closest I came to losing it was after a 36-hour period monitoring social channels I needed to just close my laptop, pass on the duty to a colleague for a few hours and get some balance. I worry that isn’t happening. This should be a team game.
Snow and grit is a planning in advance thing
I’d argue that everytime you plan to launch something you know is going to generate opinions a planning exercise needs to take place. What are they likely to say? What bullet points shall we create to help us push back if we need to? Ask yourself these questions.
For snow and ice, the answers are here’s the grit map so you can check your road. We don’t treat every road, we don’t send 14-tonne waste lorries to collect refuse on icy roads because its dangerous and more beside. Have these bullet points close to you.
For more, I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape.
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Creative commons credit: By Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13855696