Creating a big society

The snow has fallen already and it has even affected Morecambe. Where I used to live in east Lancashire the snow would often fall and last for weeks. It hardly snows at all here. On the local television news this week was an article about the council giving a free bag of grit to all householders. I wrote a blog last year about the costs of not using grit. There are injuries to the person, cars crash and they can crash into buildings. I suppose the "big society" means that the council shouldn't grit the streets and individuals pay for the damage. So it is a pleasant surprise that the council should give away grit even if it is only a couple of shovels full.

Then I read why they did it. It was to stop residents taking the grit from the bins! I thought that was what it was there for. They are placed at the bottom of hills where cars could slide into gardens. If there are dangerous steps on private land then so what if the grit is used here. It still costs the NHS if people fall on there own property. It isn't easy to move grit and most of it will be used close to the bins. if they really wanted a good distribution of grit then I would guess all they had to do was allow residents to take grit from the bins. it would have been much easier to distribute.

The beauty of this initiative is that some grit will get to where it is needed and it will be individuals who put it there. Well done Hyndburn Council. You have created your own big society. Shame about the reason for the freebie.

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