Anger at Colchester salt ‘snub’ (From Gazette)
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Anger at Colchester salt ‘snub’
1:00pm Tuesday 14th February 2012 in Colchester By Andrea Collitt
Councillors Gerard Oxford and Anne Turrell
COMMUNITY leaders are “disgusted” salt bags are available for some areas, but not others.
Gerard Oxford, Colchester councillor for High Woods, contacted Essex County Council about getting extra salt after reports of cyclists falling off bikes and elderly people slipping over in his ward.
Many of its side roads and footpaths were covered in ice after the cold snap.
But he was told the county council had a policy of providing the bags for wards with parish councils – but not non-parished wards.
Mr Oxford, speaking also for fellow ward councillors Beverley and Philip Oxford, said: “We are disgusted non-parished wards are not allowed salt bag drops. If we were, we could organise use of the salt by the community.
“We have people falling all over and as a wheelchair-dependent person, I am unable to get out in due to the lethal state of the paths and side roads.”
High Woods is one of several Colchester wards which does not have a parish council.
Mr Oxford said: “I am not attacking county council staff. I am directing my anger to ruling Conservatives for what we consider an inferior service compared to parishes.
“I would like all non-parished wards to have bag drops at locations agreed by ward councillors. They will bring their community together to make best use of the resources ”
Tracey Chapman, the county council’s highways boss, said: “In severe weather, the council treats a precautionary road network in accordance with its winter service operational plan, with the aim of keeping strategic routes from snow and ice.
“The precautionary network consists of A roads, B roads, key rural link roads and roads served by frequent bus services.
“In total, this equates to about 40 per cent of the highway network.
“Resource prioritisation means the council does not treat roads that do not meet these criteria.”
Comments(10)
pingu
says...
1:18pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Ontheball
says...
1:48pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Just what the hell do we pay council tax for.
Not only that, but we have appalling road surfaces with pot-holes everywhere which stem from LAST winter!!
I bet the jobsworths at County Hall had their pathways cleared!!
PROOFREADER
says...
2:02pm Tue 14 Feb 12
pingu wrote:No we did not. Only the roads that are a bus route got gritted. Other roads and all the pavements were lethal.
Bet greenstead get it
newtactic
says...
2:06pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Gavin2z
says...
2:10pm Tue 14 Feb 12
The answer is "yes". Those living where there is a Parish Council pay more than town dwellers. About £20 a year extra.
Boris
says...
2:34pm Tue 14 Feb 12
The effrontery of these people beggars belief.
Councillors are fond of organising their supporters to clear litter when the weather is more propitious. Why don't they organise their supporters to clear snow and ice from pavements?
Colchester United asked supporters to clear snow from the pitch to allow to-night's game to go ahead. We went there, we cleared it, and the match is on. Surely councillors can follow that example?
TheCaptain
says...
3:50pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Gavin2z wrote:But the extra is for Parish activities not things that the County should cover. So no we don't pay less to the County.
B1gman says... "do we pay less council tax than them? "
The answer is "yes". Those living where there is a Parish Council pay more than town dwellers. About £20 a year extra.
jim_bo
says...
6:44pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Ontheball wrote:Actually we had over 50 bags of salt provided by ECC.
Well we have a parish council in West Bergholt, and we got s*d all from the council. Our paths, apart from those cleared by local villagers, were attrocious.
Just what the hell do we pay council tax for.
Not only that, but we have appalling road surfaces with pot-holes everywhere which stem from LAST winter!!
I bet the jobsworths at County Hall had their pathways cleared!!
The sad thing was of a village of over 3000 people only 12 volunteers came forward to clear the paths.
If there were more then we could have cleared more of the village.
StopLookListen
says...
7:36pm Tue 14 Feb 12
.
First, there is the Urban Myth that if you clear a path and then someone falls or slips on it, you will be fast- tracked to court and liable to pay huge damages. See the Govt website to read a denial of this myth. It does however allow lazy or mean businesses to opt out of clearing their frontage, and for me, a personal tragedy in the family was caused last winter, when a very severe injury was caused to a normally cautious walker.
.
Second, most people sit around waiting for that mysterious "someone" who "ought to do something about it". How about doing a bit for yourselves and for others? If you can't afford some sand, or don't want salt on your land, that makes it more difficult, but most of us can clear our paths to some extent to make it easier for the poor devils who have to deliver milk, post, newspapers etc. It should be shamemaking to expect anyone to negotiate a snowdrift 4' high, as I witnessed next door last winter. The milkman calls there at 04.30, what a nightmare! A couple of us managed to make it a bit more negotiable when the (young) occupants were out.
B1gman says...
1:12pm Tue 14 Feb 12
do we pay less council tax than them? i doubt it , so why the reduction in services, maybe i will consider witholding some of my council tax this year to pay for things like increase security and safety !