Cold Weather Update |
Posted on Jan 15 2010 |
Dealing with the snow has been challenging for our local public services. I doubt that this is the last of the snow and so I wanted to give an update on how local public services coped and ask for your help in completing the picture. I will then contact the heads of the different organisations to make sure that they know how they can improve next time.
With best wishes,
Mark Clarke
Road clearing
The Council had eight gritting lorries which worked around the clock to try to keep the roads clear. Most major roads were gritted four times over the seven day period between 1st January and the 6th January. Many residents pointed out though that while the main roads were cleared quite quickly the side roads were often left icy. Mark asked the Council about this and they said that they had gritted every minor road once between the 1st January and the 6th January. Priority on clearing the snow on minor roads after the snow went on ensuring the roads were clear before the refuse collections happened.
Do let Mark know your views on how the Council did at clearing our roads.
Public Transport
Station staff are responsible for gritting the station and this seemed to have been done. However, on those train lines which came from the countryside, especially those on South West Trains, there were real problems. The bus situation seems much improved from the appalling situation last February when so much of London ground to a halt.
Mark would be very keen to hear your experiences of trains and buses and any improvement suggestions that you might have.
Footpaths
Wandsworth Council prioritised clearing particularly sensitive parts of the footpaths in front of stations, schools, hospitals and the main thoroughfares. After that they worked to clear footpaths on one side of the road. But the fact that it had to be done by hand meant that the work was very slow.
Even worse Health and Safety legislation has meant that people have been warned that they may be liable for injuries if they attempt to clear the footpath in front of their homes and do so inadequately. This is completely absurd and shows how messed up our country has become under this Government. The idea that someone can be in trouble for trying to do the right thing is ridiculous and a Conservative Government will change this.
Hospital closures
Probably the worst organisation at dealing with the snow was St George’s Hospital whose management seemed to panic. They sent a message out on Wednesday evening at four o’clock to all staff announcing business as usual and then 20 minutes later sent another message cancelling all elective operations on Thursday and Friday.
They were the only hospital in the area to do this. Kings, St Thomas’s and Chelsea & Westminster all carried on as normal. In fact, when Mark contacted them to ask if they had cancelled any operations they expressed astonishment at the very idea. They took the view that the weather warnings were an opportunity to put in place contingency plans not to cancel operations.
It is unacceptable that our local hospital has the worst resilience of any major teaching hospital in our area. It’s not right that local residents in Wandsworth (St George’s) had operations cancelled while residents in Lambeth or Southwark (Kings and St Thomas’s) had no problems with their hospitals. Mark has been in contact with the management and asked them to talk to other hospitals and learn how they do things.
Potholes
After large amounts of snow and ice our roads are always torn to shreds and large numbers of potholes appear. Usually, the Council repair potholes as they appear and are reported to them. However, after last February's snow the sheer number of potholes was overwhelming and so Mark persuaded the Council to approach each ward systematically making sure that they repaired every pothole before moving onto another ward. Mark has been in touch with the Council Leader again about this and as soon as the icy weather has passed Wandsworth Council will again adopt this approach.
Mark will also work with local residents on a audit of potholes to help the Council along. However, while the snow is still on the horizon and the air is icy at night there is little point in filling in the pothole because it will just reappear again almost immediately.
Schools
All our local schools stayed open. However, some closed early to allow pupils and teachers to navigate home across the icy roads and pavements in the light rather than the dark.
Dog dirt
Cold weather is always accompanied by an increase in resident complaints about dog dirt on the pavements. Partly owners seem less willing to hang around in the snow clearing up dog dirt; partly dog dirt freezes and then stays around for longer. If you have a dog please be considerate, especially when walking your dog up residential roads. Mark has contacted the local police and parks police to ask them to be extra vigilant about this issue.
Last changed: Jan 15 2010 at 12:49 PM
Back