A ROW has blown up over whether Dolgellau Town Council should pay for salt bins to help keep roads safe this winter.

The distinctive yellow bins allow local residents to salt their local roads, pavements and pathways to prevent the routes from becoming too icy and dangerous.

Next week, Dolgellau Town Council will discuss whether they will adopt the area’s salt bins and ensure they are filled and maintained properly.

The bins used to be the property of Gwynedd Council but the authority can no longer afford to maintain and stock salt bins off the county’s main roads.

As a result, the bins have been offered to local councils who can pay Gwynedd Council a fee, usually between £40 and £60, to keep the salt bins full.

However, Dolgellau town councillor John Raghoobar believes that the local council should not accept responsibility for the bins, fearing that they would become liable for any damage or injury which occurred on an unsalted piece of land.

There are nine or 10 bins in the Dolgellau area, which the town council will decide the fate of next Tuesday (6 November).

“I’m strongly against getting involved,” said Cllr Raghoobar. “It’s a Gwynedd Council issue and it’s a very serious one. I don’t think we should take responsibility, even at 5p a bin. It’s too dicey for me. I wouldn’t want the weight on my shoulders.

“What if a bin is empty because we haven’t had a chance to fill it and a car crashes and kills someone, who’s to blame? Is it us? The county council should take care of it.”

Cllr Ywain Myfyr sympathised with his co-councillor but said that was not a possibility.

“In a perfect world, yes they [Gwynedd Council] would,” he said.

“But they can’t, they’ve been forced to cut services because of their budget. It’s not their fault, it’s the fault of the government in Cardiff and London, the Tories and their age of austerity.”

Cllr Raghoobar accepted that but still believed the council should not pay.

“If there are no bins, someone will be hurt and then questions will be asked of us,” said Cllr Myfyr.

He also suggested the council should “take the reins” and let people know where the bins are and that they are available to the public.

At present, the council has not budgeted for salt bins but has money in reserve should it be required.

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