Get shovelling, says leader (From Swindon Advertiser)
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'People should take responsibility for their part of the street'
10:20am Tuesday 10th February 2009 in News
Rod Bluh clears a pavement
DO your bit to keep pavements safe, say leading Swindon politicians.
Home and business owners are being encouraged to take responsibility not just for the steps to their property but also the stretch of pavement outside.
Council leader Rod Bluh is making sure his own section of pavement is ice free.
Coun Bluh said: “In the past, when this kind of weather was more common it was just accepted that people would take their share of responsibility for cleaning the street.
“It used to be a regular sight to see shopkeepers and homeowners clearing their section of the pavement and there’s no reason that couldn’t work now.
“Obviously for people who are elderly or not physically capable of doing that there is a reason, but it would be nice to see more people showing a sense of community spirit.
“If you clear the snow early on people don’t walk on it and it doesn’t turn into sludge.”
Deputy leader, and lead member for Street Smart, Coun Fionuala Foley, agreed that residents could play their part.
She said: “Obviously the council has a responsibility to keep the streets safe but if everyone did their bit the process would be a lot of faster and more effective. It would also be very helpful if people could clear any gulleys near their home.”
Coun Foley said that council staff had reacted well to the extreme conditions.
She said: “Because we have been unable to pick up waste and recycling since last Thursday we have had those workers helping to clear the roads, which has helped a lot.
“Highways workers have been left to concentrate on gritting and ploughing instead.
“Those workers will be resuming normal waste and recycling collections from tomorrow so I would ask people to be patient and to put out their bins and recycling boxes as usual.”
l A WOMAN wants to thank a mystery man who dug her trapped car out of deep snow.
Mollie Edward, 67, of Hunts Copes Cottages, Highworth, said without the Good Samaritan’s help she would have been stuck on Saturday with her dogs in Highworth Football Club’s car park.
She said: “I hadn’t left the house for three days previously, on my first day out I got stuck.
“The man drove a Volkswagen Golf, I know he lives in Highworth but that’s it. He was such a lovely man, I want to say thank you to him.”
Comments(27)
IRofE
says...
10:26am Tue 10 Feb 09
I have a better one: Do you bit for the community and freeze Council tax!
Bobfm
says...
10:28am Tue 10 Feb 09
We have certainly tried to clear walkways through the snow on our property.
Berry_Bassett
says...
10:31am Tue 10 Feb 09
While we are doing the councils work, shall we clean our own bins out as well?
localgirl80
says...
10:32am Tue 10 Feb 09
PaulD
says...
11:02am Tue 10 Feb 09
Bobfm
says...
11:06am Tue 10 Feb 09
You the know the founding element of a Christian Society.
PaulD
says...
11:10am Tue 10 Feb 09
Home Boy
says...
11:19am Tue 10 Feb 09
Unfortunately the risk of being sued is a real one and has happened in the past (so I'm told). This is the reason a lot of businesses will not allow willing staff to help clear the footpaths or sections of road outside their premises.
RFM
says...
11:20am Tue 10 Feb 09
IRofE
says...
11:22am Tue 10 Feb 09
Bobfm wrote:It is in extreme cicumstances that we can judge a governement ability to cope and manage.
Quite amzing, so some are worried about being sued, and some think the council should do everything. Have you not heard of community spirit, pulling together in exceptional circumstances to help ones fellow man. You the know the founding element of a Christian Society.
I leave the audience make their own mind on that.
And please spare us the social mumbo jumbo. We are not a United Society, you want multicultral, you have it.
Home Boy
says...
11:23am Tue 10 Feb 09
Justin Tomlinson
says...
11:37am Tue 10 Feb 09
Always Grumpy
says...
11:49am Tue 10 Feb 09
Home Boy wrote:A lawyer, speaking on Radio 4 the other evening, was asked about the issue of being sued and basically said it's very unlikely to happen. The main reason being is if you made it worse than it was before, which is highly unlikely. He also went on to say that a judge would more than likely simply dismiss the case out of hand, unless there was a clear case of intent to make the pavement worse.
I completely agree, people should clear the footpath outside their own home. This doesn't mean clearing a section of footpath wide enough to get your own car out and piling up the excess snow on the footpath either side as I have seen on numerous occasions in the last week.
Unfortunately the risk of being sued is a real one and has happened in the past (so I'm told). This is the reason a lot of businesses will not allow willing staff to help clear the footpaths or sections of road outside their premises.
So basically, unless you are going to pour water over the pavement just before it starts freezing, so that you can make a slide for the kids you are in the clear.
Home Boy
says...
11:55am Tue 10 Feb 09
k/1/hi/uk_politics/3
453039.stm
Jock Strap
says...
12:23pm Tue 10 Feb 09
pellatj
says...
1:17pm Tue 10 Feb 09
localgirl80 wrote:I have heard that if we clear the paths outside our houses and someone slips then we can be sued!!! So were in a no win situation..
I hope if I clear my path in front of my house no one sues me for falling over there. Thats my only worry. My onus as I was the one who cleared it !!
Always Grumpy
says...
1:19pm Tue 10 Feb 09
pellatj wrote:Try reading previous posts before you make your own comments. You might have save yourself the trouble of writing.
localgirl80 wrote:I have heard that if we clear the paths outside our houses and someone slips then we can be sued!!! So were in a no win situation..
I hope if I clear my path in front of my house no one sues me for falling over there. Thats my only worry. My onus as I was the one who cleared it !!
TSK
says...
1:53pm Tue 10 Feb 09
Oddly enough, if you lived in Canada, you wouldn't be sued for clearing the snow, but you might be fined by the council for leaving it there too long. But then again, they know how to cope with snow there and are quite prepared to make an effort. Swindonians are not cut of the same cloth.
Trend
says...
2:11pm Tue 10 Feb 09
Berry_Bassett
says...
2:15pm Tue 10 Feb 09
Trend wrote:Bully for you.
I spent a happy two hours clearing snow on the path and road outside mine and my neighbours house. It was good exercise too! It made all the difference yesterday when others were sliding about we were able to walk and drive out with no problems at all.
I would rather not bother wasting 2 hours of my life and deal with a bit of snow when driving out.
When it snows tonight your be doing it all over again tomorrow.
Al Smith
says...
2:33pm Tue 10 Feb 09
pellatj wrote:As has been said you'd have to do something really really dumb like use water to clear the path for anyone to sue.
localgirl80 wrote:I have heard that if we clear the paths outside our houses and someone slips then we can be sued!!! So were in a no win situation..
I hope if I clear my path in front of my house no one sues me for falling over there. Thats my only worry. My onus as I was the one who cleared it !!
IRofE
says...
2:40pm Tue 10 Feb 09
TSK wrote:Touche
I cleared about 50m of road outside my house and paths to a couple of neighbours homes. So far, the littigators have not beaten a path to my door demanding money. Oddly enough, if you lived in Canada, you wouldn't be sued for clearing the snow, but you might be fined by the council for leaving it there too long. But then again, they know how to cope with snow there and are quite prepared to make an effort. Swindonians are not cut of the same cloth.
localgirl80
says...
2:43pm Tue 10 Feb 09
The Librarian says Oook
says...
3:32pm Tue 10 Feb 09
localgirl80 wrote:
I hope if I clear my path in front of my house no one sues me for falling over there. Thats my only worry. My onus as I was the one who cleared it !!
I have heard that if we clear the paths outside our houses and someone slips then we can be sued!!! So were in a no win situation..
Always Grumpy, Swindon says...
Try reading previous posts before you make your own comments. You might have save yourself the trouble of writing.
Yes especially reference this link in which the government confirm you can be sued if you clear the pavement outside your house. If you don’t touch it, the council are liable, if you do touch it, you are.
http://news.bbc.co.u
k/1/hi/uk_politics/3
453039.stm
Clearing snow from pavements outside your home could make you liable to legal action if somebody slips on ice, the government has said.
But if householders leave the snow, the council is liable, Lord Davies of Oldham, for ministers, told Tory Lord Burnham at question time.
Claims against householders were "few and far between," he added.
But Tory Baroness Carnegy of Lour called for a law change, to encourage people to "do their bit".
Labour ex-minister Lord Dubs added: "Something I have done for years every time there has been snow is leaving me liable to legal action."
Lord Davies said: "No householder is at all responsible, providing they do not touch the pavement, which is owned by the local authority."
If people completely and utterly and totally clear away all snow and return the pavement to the situation it was in before the snow landed, they have done an excellent job
Lord Davies of Oldham
But he added: "The moment they address the issue of the pavement with a view to improving things, which may lead to a deterioration, it may be their action that makes them culpable."
"If people completely and utterly and totally clear away all snow and return the pavement to the situation it was in before the snow landed, they have done an excellent job.
"If it is done in a less than complete manner and leaves ice, which is more dangerous than the original covering of snow, it may not necessarily be the local authority that is responsible but the householder for having dealt with the pavement."
If the exchanges led to fewer people clearing snow, Lord Davies added, "that would be a great pity and I would have acted to the detriment of the nation".
John Smith II
says...
7:18pm Tue 10 Feb 09
Listening? - possibly, Responsive? - no evidence so far...
Dosomethingmutley
says...
7:42pm Tue 10 Feb 09
We cleared and salted our drive and the area outside our house. I find it hard to believe a successful claim could be made for someone slipping on "no snow or ice", despite what all the wonderful links and quotes would say.
Unfortunately it seems to be the norm these days that the state, either local or national, is expected to do everthing for everyone, because we pay our taxes, with common sense going out the window.
people moan about the "Nanny State", but just encourage it more by not lifting a finger to help themselves. Stunning.
M-Y-O-B
says...
10:34pm Tue 10 Feb 09
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