Councillor Nadine Peatfield said she was given wrong information before an interview
09:23, 15 Jan 2026
The leader of Derby City Council has publicly apologised for the authority’s failures in dealing with Storm Goretti.
Labour councillor Nadine Peatfield confirmed some of the city’s grit bins had not been replenished ahead of last week’s heavy snow storm – despite her being told otherwise.
The council leader said in a BBC Radio Derby interview that the authority was “prepared” and grit bins had been topped up to deal with the expected storm, which brought heavy snow and ice onto the roads and pavements.
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But she told a councillor, ahead of a full council meeting, that was actually not the case.
Ms Peatfield wrote to the councillor: “While the intention was for grit bins to be replenished as part of our normal winter readiness arrangements, delivery was not consistent everywhere.”
At Wednesday’s full council meeting (January 14), Conservative councillor Matthew Eyre called on the leader to apologise, claiming residents suffered “dozens of issues” when realising grit bins were not full, and cars got stuck.
Councillor Peatfield responded: “I’m absolutely perfectly happy to apologise to residents that the information I was given at the time was not the correct information that I had shared.
“I completely accept it fell below the standards that we expect.
“Once we were aware, we have acted as fast as we can with the resources we have and officer availability.
“We know the gritters work into the early hours of the morning and then those same people are being asked to top up grit bins. We acknowledge and apologise it did not go right this time.”
Ms Peatfield said the council would reflect on events and conduct a review.
Councillor Eyre told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) after the meeting that a public apology was needed.
He said: “An apology was necessary. I and I think all councillors across the city have had countless emails in the last few days of grit bins unfilled, residents whose cars got stuck and bins not emptied as the lorries could not get around.
“It is not acceptable. If the leader makes a statement that the grit bins are filled, that should be true and it wasn’t.”
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Despite the issues, Cllr Peatfield praised the work of its gritting teams in the difficult weather.
She said in writing prior to the meeting: “I would like to thank our teams that have been out on our roads and for keeping the city moving in the snow and ice.
“Since the start of the New Year, our winter service teams have undertaken 22 carriageway gritting actions, comprising 88 individual route runs, alongside 13 footway gritting actions across priority routes.
“In total, approximately 556 tonnes of salt have been deployed across the highway network.”
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