We’ve had quite a few emails today about the icy state of the pavements in Rayleigh and Hockley Town Centres today. Lots of phrases like:
“We have just returned from Hockley and Rayleigh centres, neither of which have had the pavements cleared.”
“The conditions in Rayleigh High Street were absolutely atrocious today.”
“We were only briefly in Rayleigh but saw an ambulance treating one lady whilst the police helped an elderly man who had fallen and hit his head. “
“What I saw was totally unacceptable none of the pavements had been gritted or cleared except for a few shop owners who had taken the time and effort to clear at least an area in front of the premises.”
“The pavements were covered in ice and everybody was slipping about. I lost count of the number of people who were VERY unhappy about the situation.”
“Why is it that the contract road sweepers both vehicular and foot from the company employed by the council are not employed to lay grit in at least the High St instead of sweeping the roads/pavements when conditions prevail.”
Well, we agree about the state of the pavements – it’s almost tragic that when we are trying to boost our local shops, on the last Saturday before Christmas, when the district council have waived car park charges, when some local traders are making a BIG effort – we have this situation. And if someone falls and hits their head it could be literally tragic.
Gritting the roads and pavements is the responsibility of the County Council.
We haven’t heard officially what’s gone wrong but it seems it was something like this: The County Council instructed their contractors to grit the pavements in our town centres, but the contractors couldn’t cope with their workload, so the pavements weren’t done properly. The District Council could indeed have got it’s own contractors for street cleansing to grit the pavements. But there seems to have been a breakdown in communication between the County’s contractors, the County Council itself and the district council. – so that the District Council weren’t asked to help in time.
The pavements in Rayleigh Town centre were ‘dangerous’ to say the least. I went to pick up some cleaning and the assistant in the cleaners told me that the shop keepers had been reminded that if they attempted to clear the ice from front of their shop and someone had an accident in front of the shop, they could be sued for damages! This is also the reason that the Council would not clear pavements. I did not see one gritting lorry in my neighberhood, just an observation. Did anyone in Rayleigh get a gritting lorry in their area?
As far as the lady in the cleaners observation, three elderly people fell outside her shop and three ambulances were called to take these unfortunate people to hospital. Is this fair to residents of any age? More pressure on the NHS!
I am thoroughly disgusted with Essex County Council and want to know what action can be taken against them by those injured? The CC negligence was nothing short of criminal.
I visited a couple of businesses in Eastwood Road on Saturday 19th and the pavements were extremely dangerous – at least 2 inches of compacted polished ice – I slipped badly on several occasions despite me wearing hiking boots. An elderly or infirm person would not have stood a chance, their only option being to walk on the busy main road itself.
The High Street in Rayleigh wasn’t as dangerous as Eastwood Road but was still in a poor condition and difficult to negotiate especially for the elderly or infirm.
It makes me unnecessarily proud that so many people feel so strongly about the conditions of our roads and pavement areas. Proud because so many are putting words together for people to hear and comment on but unnecessarily because we shouldn’t have to deal with this situation at a time when the welfare of our fellow citizens is compromised due to the inefficiency of those that are supposed to provide a service.
I was in Rochford over the weekend and noticed that even the areas where young, old, infirm and laden step from buses have not been treated. Where does the unfortunate bus driver stand when one of his/her passengers steps from their bus, slips and is subjected to a prolonged stay in an already overstretched NHS. One of the comments (M.Nobes)I have read this morning has said that if a shopkeeper was to clear their shop front and someone slips and injures themselves then they are responsible. Please add DISGUSTED to how I feel that we are heading towards a blame culture like the USA where someone tries to do their bit and inadvertently causes harm to A N Other and then ends up being sued!!!!! If someone was to look at any Health and Safety information it says “remove the risk to avoid the consequence”
Mike/TWR,
I appreciate what you have said about the state of the pavements in Rayleigh/Eastwood Road, but spare a thought for those of us who live down unmade roads and do not drive. Unless you have a real death wish walking is most definitely NOT an option.
This morning I went out for the first time since the snowfall by taxi to ASDA and was horrified to see that there appears to have been no attempt to clear or even grit the car park. Fortunately the taxi driver parked as close to the front of the store so that I only had two paces from the car to the undercover trolley park. Surely it would have been the decent thing to have given some thought to their customers and gritted the parking area?
Hi Christine, I agree with you 100% but the lawyers have everything to gain and nothing to lose. I live in a close in Rayleigh, the close is like a skating rink and my bins were not emptied today because of this, I assume. We live in a blame culture and this is the result. The County Council should have taken the lead on the dangerous roads and pavements, when ECC defaulted on their responsibility RDC should have stood in, BUT, they did nothing to ease the dangerous situation we found ourselves in. I am a reasonably fit, middle aged man, however I was concerned for my welfare when I attempted to negotiate the distance between the Websters Way car park to the cleaners in Eastwood Road. I have no sympathy with RDC, they did not understand the situation and act, they did not understand the seriousness of the dangers to the most vulnerable of our residents. There was no committment. I do understand the frustration you were subjected to when out shopping and the lack of gritting in the car park but as far as I was told, on saturday, it was RDC who warned the shopkeepers that they could be sued if they attempted to clear a path outside their shop and someone was injured walking by. Maybe RDC would like to clear this point up? I would be very interested to hear from on of their Councillors or Officers on this situation, and why more roads were not gritted so that we did not have to take our lives into our hand when walking on untreated pavements to Rayleigh, railway station. WHY DO WE PAY ALL THIS MONEY ON COUNCIL TAX WITH NO RETURN! Thank you for your attention RDC.
Someone who once worked in a local Tesco store told me a number of years ago that they stopped gritting carparks because they would be considered liable if someone hurt themselves on a treated area.
I think the logic(?) is that a covering of snow/ice is a natural occurence, so if you slip your accident can only be put down to an act of nature. If someone has tried to clear the snow/ice, the surface that you slip on is the result of the person who cleared it.
Mind how you go….
Mike, what seems strange to me is that on the continent (that is Germany), from what my mother told me is that ‘You’ as a householder/trader were responsible for clearing the frontage of your property/business. So it seems odd that it is possible to keep the pavements clear there, but not in this country.
As you say we seem to be living in a blame culture (another somewhat unwelcome idea from our friends across the Pond) when it used to be that if you tripped, slipped etc. it was just an accident and off we went, or was it hobbled, on our way. Maybe we should all send our repair bills to the CC as they appear to have admitted that the contractors were not able to cope with the workload?
I think that this initiative by Councillor Keith Hudson (Portfolio Holder) is worthy of publication.
Dear Councillor
I will be providing you with an update very soon with respect to the problems that have been experienced by our Residents in and around our shopping precincts due to the ice and snow.
For now I am pleased to advise you that following a meeting Shaun [Scrutton]and I had with ECC Highways an order was placed about three hours ago with Highways for the initial provision of nine salt bins to be used as an emergency self help facility near to our shops, just in case we get another basin full of bad weather.
These have to be sponsored at about £350 each, so these nine will be paid for by RDC; maybe this initiative will encourage other organisations to “sponsor a salt bin” near to their business, within their parish or by a Residents Association as a self help neighbourly thing to do for use in an emergency.
This is the first step of many to be taken very soon.
Back in the bad old days when we had snow every winter most people cleared the footpath outside their property as a matter of course. Now we have these statements about being liable if someone slips on a cleared area.
I’d like to know if there is any basis in law for this or is it just another urban myth?
Let’s hear from the lawyers out there, has anyone ever been sued and more to the point do you know of anyone who’s won compensation?
Good news about the DC sponsoring salt bins, but I would like to point out that the Town Council has installed a number of bins at various sites around Rayleigh.
We rely on the County Council to keep them topped up and hope that people dont nick the contents for their own private use (as I saw one “gentleman” doing at Hambro Parade)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8436266.stm
Two local authorities have announced they are starting to run out of salt to grit roads.
Essex County Council and Cumbria County Council have revealed they will not be able to grit some minor roads.
Thanks Robin…. we will make a separate post about this….