Ice is health risk

Published 20 Jan 2010 13:00

I am a resident of Field Road in Faifley, Clydebank.

My street is near the back end of Faifley, on the corner of a steep gradient called Douglasmuir Road.

My road and pavements have been a significant health and safety risk since before Christmas.

I have, of course, examined the council's policy on how roads are treated in the event of adverse weather which appears on its website.

Unfortunately I do not accept it as a viable explanation as to why my street and the surrounding streets leading to the main road have not been treated adequately. Certainly not for the sum of £778.28 it is not.

In the past, I have contacted the council by telephone regarding gritting and been given the same standard response of "side streets are not a priority only main roads. Gritting of footpaths is not a legal requirement".

Why? Do you think that snow only falls on main roads? Why should motorists have priority over pedestrians?

This is not equality. It is situational ethics at its very worst. Why exactly am I paying Council Tax if I am being excluded from certain services by mindless bureaucracy?

Oh, and I do not accept the argument that many people don't access all council services. Some people use our libraries, some people don't. Some people use our swimming pools, some don't.

No-one has ever died as a result of not accessing a library or swimming pool.

People do die, often of horrific internal injuries/brain haemorrhages as a result of slipping on black ice.

It is obviously up to an individual to use due care and attention when walking to work, but in the face of extreme weather, it can be a losing battle.

Especially when, like me, a person does not drive or have access to a car.

Walking is also dangerous as a car could mount the pavement and kill a pedestrian.

If the council has another way of negotiating black ice safely, I would like to hear it

Has it spent the gritting budget on developing anti-gravity boots?

If so I have a friend who works for the jet propulsion lab at NASA who would like to hear from it. It may even get on TV.

The council may say that I could simply stay home until the weather passed. Unfortunately, that is not an option as I would not get paid for using special leave and that being off for two weeks for fear of causing myself mortal injury on black ice would almost certainly result in me losing my employment.

Would the council be refunding the cost of my Council Tax in that event? Thought not.

The council is falling down on its basic duties to provide a safe environment for its taxpayers.

There is no excuse. In simpler terms, I feel as if West Dunbartonshire Council is now taking money off me under false pretences.

If it will not offer a refund of some of the cost of my Council Tax bill, can it at least tell me that this will not happen ever again?

Joseph-John Markey, overburdened taxpayer, Faifley

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This letter appeared in Clydebank Post 20 Jan 10

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