Haringey Council should grit pavements to help vulnerable

This winter was no different and the snow in January brought the usual chaos, with me at 81 unable to leave my home for over a week. Luckily I have someone who helps me with shopping so I was able to eat. Because I was a prisoner I was able to observe my road as people struggled to make their way up and down the hill. And as usual, no grit arrived to make their progress easier.

Pearl Diver wants the council to consider pensioners when gritting the streets (Image: HPAG)

I have lived in Cranley Gardens for more than 20 years and have never seen any grit put down. This makes conditions dangerous for even the fittest people. As an example of this, the lady who shops for me, who is in her 30s and very fit, slipped on our road and broke a small bone in her back that took five weeks to heal.

It is up to the council to rectify this situation. They seem to grit main roads, which is necessary, but obviously need to deal with pavements as these are what are used by vulnerable pedestrians. To find out council policy on gritting, I rang to get some information, but this proved to be impossible as the only human being I managed to speak to said he would find out, then left me hanging for some minutes and never returned.

It will obviously take more work on my part to communicate with the council but I shall continue my mission because it is ridiculous to have a time of year when vulnerable people are frightened to go out and are scared of the weather forecast.

Snow is inviting – children show you that and make us jealous when they are outside building snowmen and throwing snowballs and we are gazing through the glass.

So please, Haringey Council, consider everyone when you are gritting the roads for the predicted bad weather.

Pearl Diver is part of Hornsey Pensioners Action Group (hornseypensionersactiongroup.org.uk)