Grit, Gritting And Some Coalition Councillors Opinions

Well alright, I'll admit it, my road does get gritted only because it's used by the ambulance's stationed around the corner to get to their patients. That said and done, I've had numerous complaints from residents about when they went to the grit bin, the grit bin was bare. Someone had been there and emptied the contents for their own personal use, clearing their own drive and footway crossing. Whilst its tax payers who pay for the grit, the taking of it, is theft and if anyone was to bother looking at a label on the bins it clearly states that.

Grit bins are put in locations where no gritting lorry will drive around and is for good community spirited residents to either shovel spread on to pavements and roads, not personal, private driveways.

Now lets move on to the roads, it seems that the Councils Coalition administration themselves are not all singing from the same hymn sheet, with comments from very senior councillors, even the deputy leader of the Lib-Dems making comments about making motorists having to fend for themselves, rather than relying on the council to help them, which is rather alarming.
Here are just a sample of comments they have made in numerous emails over the weekend and today, which alarms me.

• “ ‘EMERGENCY PLANNING’  this is not an emergency,  it is the bloody winter, you expect snow and we should have in place a program to deal with it”.

• “I have to admit that I’m not impressed with the level of gritting on our roads”.

• “What gritting????”

• “If this kind of winter weather is going to become a regular event we will have to increase radically the level of resources we have to deal with it and that includes individual requirements such as everyone having snow chains for their cars”.

• “How many of you remember several years ago, when it was either Sweden or Finland decided they could no longer afford to grit each time it snowed, so they told everyone no more grit”.

Now with comments being made by the above and they are in charge of Birmingham, it makes you wonder if they have got a grip on reality and the problem that this snow has created for us mere mortals of Birmingham who have suffered and will continue to suffer because of them.