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Nonsense kills snow fun
• ON Monday, as television screens flashed pictures of children playing in the snow in London parks, hundreds of families and children in Kilburn stood bitterly disappointed outside the gates of Kilburn Grange Park.
Some, clutching sleds and trays, were in tears when they realised they could not get in. None of them had ever seen snow like this before, and with schools and community centres closed it was a perfect day to play, make snowmen and be with their families. Tuesday, when the snow was impacted and dangerous, I saw a park official pinning a notice to a gate. I asked why the park had been shut. “Health and safety” was the reply. The notice said: “Please take extra care. The paths may be slippery.”
The results of the health and safety closure were children building snowmen on the streets, with the danger of cars sliding across the road, and young people climbing over the high-pointed iron railings to get into the park.
This day should have been an experience these children would remember all their lives. Instead some bureaucratic nonsense spoiled the fun .
AGS IRWIN
And at least 30 other Kilburn residents
Gritting failure
• DESPITE all the warnings Camden and Barnet failed to grit our roads prior to the downfall of snow, which resulted in many motorists being stranded and in my case skidding off the road.
I took a route home to Hampstead at 11.30pm and no sight of any gritters – at Hampstead Heath many motorists had come unstuck and were skidding off the road.
How is this acceptable?
They had all day to grit the roads in preparation for this, any grit at all even had the snow covered it would have given cars a little more of a hold. Two days after the snow there was still no signs of pavements or roads being gritted in my area (Mansfield Road), where walking is now more hazardous with the ice.
My councillor responded to my complaint saying that the council have frozen council tax for two years, where did I expect the money to come from?
If my skidding off the road Sunday evening had left me with serious injuries or dead, what price would the council have put on their savings and frozen council tax?
SIMONE CHANDLER, NW3
No preparation
• CAMDEN should at the very least grit pavements on major roads to allow people to walk outside when it is snowing.
But in King’s Cross our streets were left with no gritting at all. Some gritting in the area would have at least allowed residents to walk, but they are now trapped at home or run the risk of injury.
While this level of snow is highly unusual, it gives little confidence in the capabilities of the Lib Dem-Tory council when they can’t do even the smallest amount of preparation.
Given the lack of any plan on dealing with the economic downturn and now the snow, it shows that both parties are inept when it comes to providing the leadership that Camden needs.
CLLR JONATHAN SIMPSON
Labour, King’s Cross ward
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