Ulverston grit thieves create car park ice fears
Last updated at 16:25, Friday, 07 December 2012
GRIT thieves have been warned they are making Ulverston’s car parks unsafe in icy conditions.
South Lakeland District Council has decided not to refill grit bins in some of the town’s car parks, due to fears it will be stolen.
Instead the council will grit the Buxton Place and Brewery Street car parks when ‘weather conditions dictate it’.
But traders have said they cannot afford to lose important pre-Christmas trade because people have problems parking in the town – and urged the council to keep on top of the issue throughout the winter.
Gavin Knott, owner of Appleseeds in Market Street, warned that the weather in the area can be unpredictable.
He said: “It is important because the car parks are a main access point to the town’s heart, really, and if access is not maintained the businesses cannot perform.”
And town councillor Jane Harris has said it was “worrying” if residents’ safety was being put at risk by the decision.
She said: “I was a bit shocked to hear people are stealing the grit. The grit needs to stay in the car parks.”
Cllr Harris added that the first she had heard of the problem was at the town council meeting on Monday, despite SLDC claiming to have taken the decision “a while ago”.
She said it was important people realise the grit in car parks is provided to make them safer for people to use and urged them to think twice before taking any.
She added: “Maybe people are taking it because they think it is for public consumption.
“It is also worth highlighting these car parks are used by people who are not very steady on their feet.”
A spokesman for SLDC said: “Ulverston car parks at Brewery Street and Buxton Place are gritted whenever weather forecasted conditions dictate it.
“The decision to not fill grit bins was taken a while ago due a high number of repeated and regular thefts of the bins’ contents.
“SLDC reviews these issues regularly and welcomes any representation on the matter.”
First published at 16:17, Friday, 07 December 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
Oh to have the luxury of a grit bin near my home, to be able to grit the roads and pavements (oh no sorry we don't have any of those either!). We just have a pile of grit dumped at the side of the road only for it to be washed away when it rains!! However I can see SLDC's point of view....makes more sense to get the gritters to do the car parks as well, coz lets face it who actually gets a spade out and grits brewery streeet car park when its icy? The car park users? The residents? The shop owners?
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Paul is right. We did a great job of clearing the pavements around the Gill, into town and up to the health centre. The whole community got involved and it's well documented see http://youtu.be/pUyjyTlJd_o And yes we did 'steal' the salt grit to do this work. Where else are we meant to get our supplies of salt, there are no CCC green bins close to town. What an irresponsible attitude by SLDC . They are very good at making excuses - but where is their community spirit? This is the kind of local government we can do without. What do they think the phrase "we're all in this together" means? Clearly we're not. CCC are doing a great job: what's up with SLDC? "Should we be paying our rates" I ask. Do some of the 'officers' need to be fired?
Posted by Geoff Dellow on 8 December 2012 at 18:37