Resident asks local councillor if a grit bin can be installed in his street to ease access in snowy conditions. Permission is refused as resident lives in unadopted street, and council not currently buying new grit bins anyway as part of cost-cutting measures.
Councillor writes letter suggesting resident gets a FWD or 4WD car instead as "BMWs are notoriously poor in snow".
bit.ly/qfNL2N
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BMW's can cope in winter conditions just like any other car -if fitted with winter tyres.
I managed to get a grit bin sited up in Warleggan when we lived there - no one used it though.
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Not often I say 'well done' to a local councillor.
The BMW driver sounds like an arrogant, self-centred bully.
So well done to the local councillor for having none of it.
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>> Not often I say 'well done' to a local councillor.
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>> The BMW driver sounds like an arrogant, self-centred bully.
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>> So well done to the local councillor for having none of it.
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EH, how do you get from asking for a grit bin, to arrogant self centered bully?
My street is flat (ish), we have several grit bins, none of my neighbors is a bully, even the BMW owners, and I am too old to be one.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 9 Sep 11 at 19:46
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...EH, how do you get from asking for a grit bin, to arrogant self centered bully?...
The BMW driver was rude to the councillor when he approached him in the street, and was 'incensed' by the slightly sarky written reply.
All according to the story, but that's all we have to go on.
Although the general reputation of BMW drivers could be taken into account when assessing what happened.
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Iffy - You are Richard Brunstrom and I claim my £5.00 !
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...Iffy - You are Richard Brunstrom and I claim my £5.00...
If I had his pension, I could afford to give you a lot more than a fiver.
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news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3462885.stm
This is the story, a source close to him said that it was a class thing....
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Sorry iffy, I missed the link. I agree with being robust with minor politicians, most are a waste of space. The BMW owner must be a bit thick if he thinks the council are going to supply and maintain a grit bin in an unadopted road, he will be expecting them to repair potholes next. :-)
He will just have to dig himself out, it took our council a week to get us dug out last winter, but they did have other priority's, like the hospital access etc.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 9 Sep 11 at 20:14
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Lib Dem councillor hailed as the new Messiah?
If 'twasn't for the grit bins on the hill leaving our little enclave there'd be few make it out, there's a couple of older people who reverse their FWD cars out with no bother, oddly proving that RWD really is best..;), oh and those who equip themselves and their vehicles to cope.
You'd think that a council would be happy for residents to help them to keep the roads clear if only they'd supply a bin and salt, thereby enabling the residents to get to work and earn some money to pay for the things in the first place, simple view i know.
I hope the ratepayers of the area remember the sarky response at council election time, kerching.
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>> there's a couple of older people who reverse their FWD cars
>> out with no bother, oddly proving that RWD really is best..;), >>
Not quite. Surely reversing a FWD car up a hill is akin to driving a rear engined RWD car up a hill. Please don't say we've all got to drive around in old Beetles!
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Talking about old Beetles never got stuck anywhere in winter when I drove the VW Beetles.
They where like a Kubelwagen go anywhere.
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>> They where like a Kubelwagen go anywhere.
We've said before that skinny tyres are much better in snow than modern low/wide jobbies.
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>> We've said before that skinny tyres are much better in snow than modern low/wide jobbies.
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Add a good old heavy NA Diesel lump into the equation with it's constant torque down to stall revs with the drive wheels having the most weight wherever they may be, manual box too, and you're laughing eh Brompton.
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>> Talking about old Beetles never got stuck anywhere in winter when I drove the VW
>> Beetles.
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>> They where like a Kubelwagen go anywhere.
Yeah, but you were frozen to the seat and the windscreen had an inch thick layer of ice on the inside due to their wonderful heaters :)
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I partly agree with the councillor - you can't install grit bins on every side street in winter, the infrastructure is too complex. Priorities have to be made. Although the announcement of cost-cutting measures are a joke. I see huge wastage of public money in my department alone, God know's how much it would be if you added it up.
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All the gritter routes and their priority's (emergency vehicle routes, bus routes etc.) will be on your council website, or should be.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 9 Sep 11 at 20:18
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On the basis of the news report in the OP, the pair of them need their dummies putting back in.
Wouldn't be surprised to learn that there's some previous between them though.
We live in a development arranged in a not dissimilar way. I bought my own bag of rock salt last winter, because life is way too short to get involved in fisticuffs with the district council over this sort of stuff.
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If you drive a recent BMW (as he appears to do) you can afford a solution. Unadopted road: own choice, in your own hands lies the remedy.
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It's the same here - at least came into the purchase with our eyes open...I'm happy to clear the road although a winter tyre clad 4WD Beemer should be a doddle.
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The thing is, its an unadopted road, which means it has nothing to do with the council, which means if he wants a bin he can go and buy the bloomin thing himself.
Or of course pay to have it adopted, but I doubt he will like that answer either.
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I bought my own
>> bag of rock salt last winter,
Thanks for the memory jog, Paul. I bought some last year but it was a bit of a search. I've put it on my ' to do ' list . I use it for the patio/steps and path.
We don't get council bins round here......I can't , in fact , remember seeing one in the council's area.
Ted
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I bought a bag of rock salt in the last ice age for my long sloping concrete drive,
It did an excellent job - of weakening the already unsound areas, leaving me with holes in the drive.
I wouldn't use the blimming stuff again, not that I need to here.
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There are bins on the hills on our local lanes, but the council don't fill them until after the snow has gone, and in any case people steal the grit.
Presumably the council that expects people to buy cars appropriate to the road conditions encourages 4X4s to avoid speed-hump and pot-hole damage? Or they could abandon tarmac altogether, scrap the highways department, and expect people to get tractors or Ford model Ts.
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We have a sloping drive with a lip where the road and drive meet. It's impassable in ice in a 2wd car. I of course grit it.
The complainant is typical of those who expect the state to do everything... and since his road was unadopted must have known it was not obliged to do anything.
I can't think of anything polite left to say.
Last edited by: madf on Sat 10 Sep 11 at 15:37
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i have a wheely bin full of road salt in the corner of my car park provided by the housing association , theres room for 4 cars but im the only one in the block whos got one ,aint i lucky
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Where I grew up as a kid in R/Dam when we had the snow and ice in the winter.The neighbours used to get out with spades and brushes and cleared the street.If we had to wait for the council to clear it,we would have had a long wait.
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I use ordinary household salt for my short garden path, much cleaner than the brown stuff.
As Ted mentioned earlier, worth stocking up now on your chosen variety, before it becomes scarce, as it usually does in the cold weather.
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Grit bin for your street? Not if you drive a BMW - Dog
