No grit = Boris Johnson

[nicholab]

Speaking to a contact in the local council I found out Boris Johnson the reason why London does not have enough grit!! Our council are having to give grit to other as they socked up and had the right amount. Edited January 12, 2010 by nicholab

[elsiegee40]

We can't buy more grit from County Supplies because County have requisitioned it. Nice work ... lets' keep the schools open.

 

We've been told we can't have any for at least a fortnight. Caretaker has bought sacks of grit and water softener salt from the local DIY store to tide us through.

[rad]

:hand:which councils are giving it away? I'm confused

[elsiegee40]

I assume London Boroughs are being forced to hand over to central London

[SteveBentley]

Grit is being managed centrally, so that all councils have access to some supplies, regardless of which councils had the foresight to order plenty in advance.

[sparkeh]

We can't buy more grit from County Supplies because County have requisitioned it. Nice work ... lets' keep the schools open.

 

Yep we were told the same thing here. So the choice is icy roads *to* school or icy paths *at* school

[cookie_monster]

When you look at the last few years winters it's very difficult to plan for one like this, our caretakers got a bit caught out last year so they had 2 tons in this year and it still didn't last. You can't order loads extra as if you don't use it it goes bad. This winter has been extreme that's the problem so it’s difficult to really lay blame at anyone’s door though that won't stop a waste of money enquiry trying.

[mattx]

This happened for London last Thursday. My kids school road was NOT gritted and was a death trap ready to happen. I witnessed a few cars just skid off. The school was closed because just because of the non-gritting. I sent a E-mail to my ward Cllrs asking them why it was not gritted Tuesday night / Wednesday morning as this was when the majority of the snow fell for us. They have tried to fob me off with the 'government has taken control' however I have pointed out that this only happened Thursday and not on the days I asked about. I have also pointed out that the road in which the school is on is NOT down on the list of roads in our borough to be gritted but others are which have no schools on. I am looking forward to their explanations..........

Almost a week has passed and I am still waiting for the explanations........

 

As for Boris - yet another Eton Boy idiot out of touch with the normal folk. I did not agree with a great deal that Ken did but at least you knew where you stood with him - if you want pure stupidity and comedy watch the Mayor's Q&A sessions - Boris is just so stupid it's funny - he can't even string a sentance together let alone run a city. We finally have our George Bush.

Edited January 12, 2010 by mattx

[localzuk]

The councils were warned by the AA that they had 250,000 tonnes less this year than in previous years but were fobbed off with 'we use just in time delivery systems now', ignoring the fact that if everyone was using JIT then when a freeze came along, hundreds of lorries would be travelling to the 1 or 2 mines in the country to collect the stuff... at the same time.

 

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you are better having too much than too little. Not to mention that this cold winter was forecast by various organisations but the government ignored them.

[cookie_monster]

The councils were warned by the AA that they had 250,000 tonnes less this year than in previous years but were fobbed off with 'we use just in time delivery systems now', ignoring the fact that if everyone was using JIT then when a freeze came along, hundreds of lorries would be travelling to the 1 or 2 mines in the country to collect the stuff... at the same time.

 

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you are better having too much than too little. Not to mention that this cold winter was forecast by various organisations but the government ignored them.

 

 

True but the forecasting of late has been atrocious they haven't even been getting close on the next few hours here. I sure I remember reading that a warm winter was forecast by some.

 

EDIT: No you're right I must be thinking of last years forcast

 

http://met4cast.com/winter-forecast/2009/winter0910.pdf

Edited January 12, 2010 by cookie_monster

[sted]

The councils were warned by the AA that they had 250,000 tonnes less this year than in previous years but were fobbed off with 'we use just in time delivery systems now', ignoring the fact that if everyone was using JIT then when a freeze came along, hundreds of lorries would be travelling to the 1 or 2 mines in the country to collect the stuff... at the same time.

 

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you are better having too much than too little. Not to mention that this cold winter was forecast by various organisations but the government ignored them.

 

and their wouldnt be problems if the council took money from say the education budget so they could buy/store more grit. it all costs money and at the end of the day tax payers have to stump up in one of 2 ways less services or more tax. If you want to pay extra tax to buy more grit/gritters for the once or twice a decade its a problem then fair enough but i dont. I managed to drive 500 miles last week and only once did i find a bit of road that was hard to drive up and that was a 10 yard stretch up a hill ive had no problem getting around apart from traffic last tuesday

Edited January 12, 2010 by sted

[sidewinder]

Im also not going to moan at councils too much either. We're obviously short round here but it is difficult and it is unusual to have this much snow/ice at once and all over the country (hence making ordering difficult). If they had tons of extra in storage they would probably end up having to sell it to another council anyway.

[nicholab]

I suppose in a way it our own fault we what to pay less council tax and it goes on things like this.

[sparkeh]

I suppose in a way it our own fault we what to pay less council tax and it goes on things like this.

 

I disagree as a lot of the money we do pay is wasted.

Taking an example I know about: Leicester City Council paid £11.5m in consultants fees last year including fees for BSF consultants (one of which was an ex-headteacher who resigned when his school failed OFSTED!), consultants for the proposed tram network (which isn't going ahead) and a review of the StarTrak system which has never worked properly and for which the Campaign for Better Transport has already carried out extensive work on proposals for improving the system which have been consistently ignored.

 

Sort out the waste and perhaps we might be able to afford safe roads.

[localzuk]

I disagree as a lot of the money we do pay is wasted.

Taking an example I know about: Leicester City Council paid £11.5m in consultants fees last year including fees for BSF consultants (one of which was an ex-headteacher who resigned when his school failed OFSTED!), consultants for the proposed tram network (which isn't going ahead) and a review of the StarTrak system which has never worked properly and for which the Campaign for Better Transport has already carried out extensive work on proposals for improving the system which have been consistently ignored.

 

Sort out the waste and perhaps we might be able to afford safe roads.

 

Precisely. Waste is everywhere in local governments.