Tuesday 22 December 2009

Finally we're clear

Some five days after the first heavy snowfall, Post House Wynd has finally been cleared and gritted along with much of the rest of the town centre, which has been covered with snow and sludge for nearly a week. If it's possible for shoppers to stay away in droves, they have been over the past few days. It's really taken far too long to get this done. Many of the pedestrian routes into town, such as Duke Street, are still treacherous and completely untreated. The roads have been cleared for cars, but pity the poor pedestrian.

Post House Wynd has been particularly treacherous, with its downhill (or uphill) slope compounded by slippery cobbles and a sideways slope from the shops towards the centre of the Wynd where the drains run.

I cleared the snow and sludge from outside my shop after the first snowstorm, until a passing workman informed me I could be sued if someone slipped on the bit I'd cleared, but I couldn't be if I just left the snow and ice there. I'll have to make some enquiries about that!

2 comments:

Paul said...

Mike, it's been a disgrace. And to think it's supposed to be a pedestrian heart.

Mike Barker said...

I know there are concerns high up in the Council about the ability of Street Scene to deal with this. They have clearly been found wanting.

I understand that, due to restructuring/job cuts, untrained personnel have been doing the gritting - and are seen to have done a poor job. Just don't expect anyone to admit this.

Elderly people have been unable to come into town for fear of falling. All the pavements into town are still iced up. In the town centre itself, even where the amount of footfall had broken up the ice, no-one did anything to clear away the resulting sludge and slush, even along the jewel in the crown, High Row.