Knowing people who live on the other side of Atlantic, it is always a source of amusement to see how most of Scotland suddenly grinds to a halt when we get a snow flurry or two.
Fife, as we all know, has its own micro climate, and it’s not a strange sight to see people walking through slush down Kirkcaldy High Street while residents in the north of the Lang Toun are having to dig their cars out.
Of course you can’t compare Cupar with Chicago in the depths of winter, or Townhill with Toronto, as the scale of investment and the need for readiness when snow strikes is completely different, but most would still expect Scotland to cope a bit a better when we get a wee bit of colder weather.
However, it is what it is, and if people don’t heed the advice of Police Scotland not to travel unless its utterly essential then you’ll get the results some of us experienced last week with cars struggling up hills and people stuck in their vehicles for hours on end as the roads became treacherous.
Having said all that, I’m still fairly perplexed by Fife Council’s decision to remove grit bins from communities across the Kingdom.
Surely it’s better giving people the tools to help themselves when bad weather strikes, rather than relying on the local authority to come and salt footpaths?
I know from talking to doctors and nurses this week that NHS Fife has been inundated with people doing themselves a mischief by falling on ice so far this winter, and I’m pretty sure the region isn’t out of the woods yet with more cold weather to be expected in the coming weeks and months.
So why not put grit bins where they are needed most?
We’re told that Fife’s new policy is to provide grit bins on minor housing estate roads and footpaths not on the primary gritting network, and therefore many of those on primary routes have already been whipped away.
We’re also told this decision was taken because of money, with the need to make savings bigger than ever. The main cost of the grit bin service is not their provision but the servicing of them, according to council chiefs, and Fife is already providing more grit bins than neighbouring councils.
Gritting roads is not the same as gritting pavements though, and that’s where you are likely to see people — older people in particular — come a cropper.
A review of the winter services policy is ongoing, and a working group has been set up to look at options with a view to delivering a “sustainable service within a reducing budget envelope”.
A balance has to be reached between provision and the money available, we all get that, but if savings are needed then this is, in my opinion, an area that shouldn’t be scrimped upon.
