Five people were understood to have contacted the council on Monday to raise concerns about Stoneburn Rd.
They included Mr Engelbrecht and contractor Clive Wilson, who was taking baleage further up the road but stopped in Mr Engelbrecht’s yard because of the icy conditions.
Mr Engelbrecht’s wife, Kirstin, took their children and neighbouring children to meet the school bus, as they did not want the bus coming up the road.
Mr Wilson said he was told it was not policy to grade ice or snow off gravel roads; that farmers had plenty of notice snow was coming and they needed to be more organised.
He believed the attitude was ‘‘completely and utterly wrong’’, saying there was no intention of the matter being discussed with him.
Mr Engelbrecht was frustrated a grader was parked about 7km away, on State Highway 85, before the snowfall last Friday.
The grader was shifted to a nearby side road in a "less visible position" on Monday afternoon, after he contacted the council, he said.
"Their go-to position is ‘No, we’re not doing anything about it, tough luck’. Who’s in the best position? A farmer who lives here and has farmed all their life, or someone sitting in Oamaru?
"It’s just frustrating. I know when a road’s not safe for someone to travel on.
"When someone rings who’s not an idiot, and says the road’s . . . a risk to users, and a grader is sitting 7km away, I would have thought, somebody might say, ‘That’s no good’."
The council should be there to serve ratepayers, allowing them to access roads so they could go about their business.
"It’s not about me going to war with council. It’s about when someone rings them, they treat them with some respect and their concerns . . . their go-to position should be ‘What can we do here?’," he said.
There were no major snowfalls in the area and it was probably about 600m that needed cleared, he said.
Mr Engelbrecht walked cattle down the road on Monday to meet a stock truck and some slipped over on the ice.
Another farmer said other roads were also affected and the council’s response was a "disgrace".
Chief executive Michael Ross said the council appreciated such weather events could cause considerable inconvenience and tried to respond to ratepayers’ requests where it believed it was practical to do so.
A SouthRoads employee was sent to inspect the road that afternoon in a 2WD ute.
"The road was slippery with thawing snow but, driving to the conditions, was negotiable. There was evidence of other vehicles’ tyre marks including those of a tractor."
The request to grade that section was considered but, at the time of inspection, there was too little snow.
"Grading would have simply smoothened the surface making it even more dangerous. Further, if the slush was removed, the road would be likely to deteriorate into a slick smooth surface with the next freeze. As the road was open during the afternoon, it wasn’t necessary to apply grit," Mr Ross said.
The grader was parked at Dunback before the forecast snow to ensure it would not get snowbound rendering it unusable for the rest of the network.
It was moved for security reasons and also "because it frequently creates an expectation that grading work is about to occur, or that it is available for work which we may not deem necessary".
Snow was cleared off roads should residents not have access to their houses and after the event had finished.
"No roading authority can guarantee that its network will be available 24/7 throughout the year for all types of vehicles, especially in high country hill areas such as this."
The council tried to ensure ratepayers got the best service it could afford, but sometimes its decisions would not suit everyone, he said.
