Wayne Norris and Jonathan Young with the petition against not gritting the Niton road.
ISLE of Wight highways chiefs, faced with a petition signed by hundreds of people demanding the Niton to Newport road is gritted, have agreed to reinstate the route when the PFI contract kicks in later this year.
Villagers are awaiting a formal response from cabinet member Edward Giles to their petition, drawn up after a spate of accidents before Christmas and signed by 550 people, but a letter to the parish council has indicated the Niton route and others, were set to be included in gritting runs from April this year.
The letter to parish councillor Jonathan Young, who helped to organise the petition with village grocer Wayne Norris, said: "We have been able to secure the reinstatement of all of the routes removed from the gritting schedule following the winter of 2009/10 as part of PFI. That contract will commence in April this year and should secure the future winter maintenance of the route."
Cllr Young said: "It just shows what can be achieved when people come together and a little research is done. We smelled a rat weeks ago when they told us salt supplies were still rationed. It's nonsense.
"We shall be keeping a close eye on the "salt socks" which the council has now started laying at some of the most ice-prone spots. If they work, fine. If they don't, then we shall continue to press for conventional treatment this winter — if necessary with grit, rather than salt which can wash away."
Reporter: martinn@iwcpmail.co.uk