Free grit for all!

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by katex

Haven't got my freebie yet,

It's not a freebie

[Bernard Dawson]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

It's not a freebie

It baffles me Dave why people say its free. It's anything but free.

[Less]

Originally Posted by jaysay

In that case they probably don't own the shop either but they don't leave the door wide open when they go home at nights either

What are you talking about?

Where is the link between shopkeepers locking up at night and not being responsible for pavements?

[katex]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

It's not a freebie

Ok ... understand that, figure of speech .. no need for all those mad emoticons .. calm down. Just some have got more out of the council tax than others I guess.

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by katex

Ok no need for all those mad emoticons .. calm down.

stop winding me up then

[shillelagh]

Originally Posted by Neil

I don't think it is quite as simple as that.
So much emphesis is put on the schools duty of care to the children that the parents who complain about the schools being shut would be the first to complain if the children could not get home because the busses could not get through.

When the schools closed the other week the bus companies were contacting schools to say they could come now for the kids but might not be able to get through later.

My son goes to St Chris's, they have kids from as far as Burnley so its not practical to say walk home. Even when I was at school I had to travel 7 miles by bus to the secondary schools in Clitheroe.

If you were the head teacher and the bus companies were saying they would not be able to take your kids home at 3.30pm but could come now at 1pm what would you do?

I think most of the problem is down to our transport system not being able to cope with a bit of snow. Its laughable when you look at most of northern Europe and what they manage with. We seem to have the attitude over here that it does not snow much so we wont bother being prepared.

How many of you have shovels in the boot of your car and warm clothes incase you get stuck.

Last night on the news it was saying that the Scottish Transport Minister has resigned because they were not ready and they mentioned forcing wagons to use winter tyres as some of the problems were caused by stranded wagons.

i can remember when i was at the high school .. if you had to catch a school bus and the buses were sent to the school you were sent home ...but the pupils who walked to school stayed at school until finishing time or if it got really bad ... got sent home then.

when i was driving i always had a box in the boot with a hi-vis jacket, tyre sealant, torch, cooking salt/ a carton of ice melt in winter, and a pair of wellies/steel toe capped boots.

up in scotland these last couple of weeks has been really bad. Spugs had to walk to work a couple of days and walk home as the buses had been stopped .. was sent home a couple of days as well. Last monday which caught out the transport people they'd not expected as much snow as they got. In fact spugs said it started at 6.55am .. and was still snowing at 3pm in the afternoon .. no let up at all ... that was on top of what they'd already had.. In fact one school up there the pupils slept in the school as they couldnt get home .. the schools pupils were aged 3 - 18 .. and the staff stayed there as they couldnt leave until all the pupils had left .. the problems were exacerbated by people abandoning their cars on the road and walking so gritters and snow ploughs couldnt get through.... spugs also said that he'd been talking to a council worker .. who told him that the problem with the snow ploughs the ice was so thick it was breaking the blades on the snow ploughs ...

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Less

What are you talking about?

Where is the link between shopkeepers locking up at night and not being responsible for pavements?

Well Less if I had a shop I'd lock it up at night and clear the pavement of snow as a matter habit, looking back to the times when we didn't live in a nanny state, were everybody thinks responsibility is somebody else's, people used to clear the snow of footpaths and certainly shop keepers did, now we expect the council to do everything

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by jaysay

Well Less if I had a shop I'd lock it up at night and clear the pavement of snow as a matter habit, looking back to the times when we didn't live in a nanny state, were everybody thinks responsibility is somebody else's, people used to clear the snow of footpaths and certainly shop keepers did, now we expect the council to do everything

If it was private property I might agree with you.

So tell me, what should I expect for over £2,000 a year rates ( not to mention I also pay the same council residentially as well )

[Less]

Originally Posted by jaysay

Well Less if I had a shop I'd lock it up at night and clear the pavement of snow as a matter habit, looking back to the times when we didn't live in a nanny state, were everybody thinks responsibility is somebody else's, people used to clear the snow of footpaths and certainly shop keepers did, now we expect the council to do everything

I don't think the two things are comparable, obviously it is the shopkeepers responsibility to ensure his goods are secured on leaving the premises, however it has never been the shopkeepers responsibility to clear the snow away, just as it isn't his responsibility to repair cracked flagstones.
When considering how high business rates are, I for one do expect the Council to clear the front of his premises.

[Mick]

Sod the Grit what we really need to do is get back to open fires
1)Then you can burn most of your rubbish so there is not as much to throw out saving space in the wheelie bins
2) burning the rubbish is also recycling as the heat produced would warm the room and your hot water (back boiler) for the youngsters that don't know about open fires
3) ash could be saved and put on paths and pavements to prevent you slipping
4) it makes great toast
5) all the smog produced form the fires and the fog was great to play hide and seak in too so would keep the kids happy

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

If it was private property I might agree with you.

So tell me, what should I expect for over £2,000 a year rates ( not to mention I also pay the same council residential as well )

Oh come on Dave its your business!!! to me I wouldnt give a toss, I'd want to make sure potential customers were able to enter my premises safely, whether it was my own or rented

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Less

I don't think the two things are comparable, obviously it is the shopkeepers responsibility to ensure his goods are secured on leaving the premises, however it has never been the shopkeepers responsibility to clear the snow away, just as it isn't his responsibility to repair cracked flagstones.
When considering how high business rates are, I for one do expect the Council to clear the front of his premises.

Well Less we'll just have to agree to disagree on this, if I had a business whether the premises were owned or rented I would make sure the space outside my shop was clear of snow, flagstones are different altogether and you know it

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by jaysay

Oh come on Dave its your business!!! to me I wouldnt give a toss, I'd want to make sure potential customers were able to enter my premises safely, whether it was my own or rented

Are you suggesting I should also sweep the street as well so they don't have to wander past the usual mountain of rubbish round town, or perhaps hire security so they don't get hassled by the various denegrades wandering town and making their way to Maundy Grange.

Actually I have a better idea, why don't they make the denegrades clear the streets instead of cluttering them up

PS You still haven't said what the business rates are for

[Benipete]

It looks like it is time to brace ourselves for the second wave of bad weather starting around Thursday.
Ive nicked some more salt/grit in readiness.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

Are you suggesting I should also sweep the street as well so they don't have to wander past the usual mountain of rubbish round town, or perhaps hire security so they don't get hassled by the various denegrades wandering town and making their way to Maundy Grange.

Actually I have a better idea, why don't they make the denegrades clear the streets instead of cluttering them up

PS You still haven't said what the business rates are for

Now your just being pedantic Dave