YESTERDAY morning we awoke to snow. Great for the children with a day off school but for adults trying to report for work, it wasn’t good news.
On Fenay Bridge Park estate where we live, you have to drive up a steady slope to get out of the estate. Because of the snow it was only possible to do this with a four-wheel drive vehicle meaning 90% of residents were stuck with no way out.
I phoned Kirklees Council to ask if it was possible for a gritting wagon to pass through the estate. Having explained the situation, I was advised this would be arranged with frequent visits to the section of road that was causing the problem. The gritting didn’t materialise.
Tuesday am was still the same. I opted to set off for work on foot, catching two buses to get to Cleckheaton two hours and twenty minutes after leaving home.
With my partner still at home it seemed to be a repeat of Monday with people setting off to work but returning within minutes because they couldn’t drive up the hill.
A bus route passes through the upper estate. Was it asking too much for the gritter to pass through giving all the residents a chance of getting out?
Ironically we have two grit bins but they are both empty with rubbish in the bottom.
When the Government estimates a fifth of the work force missed work on Monday, it may be that like ourselves it wasn’t through a lack of trying.
I am hoping we see a gritter soon as this would clear the road and give us access to the main roads that are a stones through away and clear of snow. Or are my expectations too high?
Martin Franz
Huddersfield
Icy Cliff edge
LOCAL people have asked Kirklees Highways to consider gritting Cliff Lane in Holmfirth.
This is a narrow and steep lane with barely room for vehicles and pedestrians to pass and in the recent icy weather it was desperate. People clung to the walls to stay upright.
Thank goodness that no vehicles attempted to traverse its length on those days. It’s the main walking route for most people from Cliff to Holmfirth, including parents and children on the way to school and health professionals on their way to work at the local health centre.
Walking to school and work fits perfectly with Highways philosophy, but two requests since January 12 for gritting have been ignored.
I spoke to the Highways call centre again on Friday last. The very helpful lady could not say if any requests had been received, but she was very happy to record details.
Her main response was that Cliff Lane is one of many which are not even second priority. Grit (salt) bins are provided for the community to use.
In this case, I suggested that it is unreasonable to expect one or two residents to take on the duty (with the associated liabilities) of gritting the entire length of the road for the public in general. Anyway, I asked if Kirklees Highways could issue guidelines or recruit residents (spiked boots and training to be provided of course) to take charge when necessary.
At this point, the Highways call centre lady became the perfect Highways’ spokesperson and advised that Kirklees Highways would not consider this course of action.
She was very good on this theme and worked hard to divert me from my cause. It took a while to persuade her to put the question formally to officers of the council.
However she did finally agree and we are now waiting for the official response.
This need not involve the introduction of a whole new council department; a simple scheme could be devised. It’s no good just having bins full of grit.
HOLMFIRTH RESIDENT
Roads gritted and clear
HAVING complained about the gritters being in the wrong places last week I feel in duty bound to congratulate them this morning.
They must have been up very early because our roads were salted and traffic flowing freely – all two of them.
Everyone else, including me, had stayed at home not because of the conditions but because of the forecast.
I mentioned Clr Turner last week in the absence of road gritting lorries doing the job herself at the top end of Clough Road and actually getting the traffic moving away from a jam situation.
This got me into trouble with her husband who says he did most of the shovelling in his capacity as chairman of the Lions. Sorry John!
Credit where it is due. Lions one. Councillors nil. Unless it’s knowing how to get people organised that really does the trick?
Mark Mercer
Golcar
Nurses go extra mile
I WOULD just like to both thank you and applaud the efforts of the district nursing staff, particularly in the Colne Valley who struggled in some cases on foot through the snow and appalling conditions to get to treat their patients.
My wife, being recently out of hospital, was one of these.
I know that after walking to us in Cowlersley the next stop was Blackmoorfoot, a big effort considering that they are based in Marsden. Once again a big thank you to all the team.
Ken Thompson
Cowlersley
Society gone soft
THIS recent snow fall is, according to some, the worst for 10 years? It has brought chaos to public transport, closed some roads, closed schools, and disrupted businesses.
To hear the TV news media going on about it, one would think that snow is a rare phenomenon in this country.
I can remember when I was a young lad, my school or any school never closed when it snowed, public transport still ran and people simply walked to work. In the 50s and 60s there were far worse snow falls than of today.
So what has changed? Simple! A spoon fed society which has no back bone any more, and media hype.
lan Parkinson
Oakes
Dedicated police
SPARE a thought for the policemen and women guarding the area where a dreadful brawl in Milnsbridge ended with a death. The ones guarding an area at the back of the house are standing in a small park.
This is like standing in an open field.
In this Arctic weather they are standing day and night with no shelter.
I admire their dedication and resolve to do their duty correctly, and I can vouch that they were there in the middle of the night, marching about just to keep warm.
Little is ever said of our police force, but where they are to be totally admired by all who see their steadfast actions and resolve for you and me.
In many ways we take them greatly for granted but without them, our homes and family would be greatly at risk, both day and night.
I have no hesitation therefore in thanking them wholeheartedly for what they do and have to do, sometimes many things that are totally unknown to the public at large.
I Hill
Milnsbridge
Backing green spaces
I HAVE just received a letter from Barry Sheerman that details the concerns of the Clayton Fields Action Group over the proposed development of Clayton Fields.
May I add my voice to those who oppose such a proposal and affirm my support to those who wish to retain the space as a village green.
Dexter Booth
Huddersfield
Products of war
EVEN if one opposes Hamas as G R Newsome does (Letters Feb 2) the fact of the matter is that Hamas are not the cause but the by product of 60 years of war, bombardments and aggression perpetrated against the Palestinian people.
Even during times of “ceasefire” Israel has pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing and land grabbing.
To expect the Palestinians not to respond to such persistent and cruel oppression is like expecting one of Jack the Ripper’s victims not to kick back.
It is unprecedented that the BBC refuse to make a charitable appeal for the people of Palestine whose hospitals and other facilities have been bombed out of existence.
Like other western institutions the BBC has pandered to Israeli intransigence. Only when the west insist that the rights of the Palestinian state are recognised can we begin to find a answer to this long and bloody ordeal for the people of both sides.
Rita Rearguard
Huddersfield
Political training
GOOD old McBrown. He raises everyone’s expectations at the Labour conference with his talk of British jobs for British workers, while he now claims he meant training to help Brits get jobs. Perhaps he should have said as much.
We need to recall that at the time he was under great pressure and about to lose his own well remunerated job with even young Miliband sniffing around for an opportunity to shin up the greasy pole.
He has no-one to blame but himself for the current mess with wildcat strikes spreading across the country.
The arrogance and dishonesty of these people is reflected in the comments this weekend of both McBrown and Mandy, the unelected one. Lord Mandelson suggests going to work in Europe. Easy to do when you have spent your life greasing the pole and being over-paid for so little..
At least now the cat is out of the bag regarding the EUSSR and all those nasty little clauses in the treaties we never got the chance to vote on.
Come the elections in June let’s hope that people take the opportunity to vote and remove the current incumbents from their comfortable gravy train existence.
Gez Sharp
Huddersfield
