Snow joke, skidding on ice (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

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Snow joke, skidding on ice

8:53am Monday 11th January 2010

By Janet Wright »

I’ve just discovered a form of exercise that makes you look good as well as feeling good: shovelling snow from in front of your house. It’s surprising how long the pavement stays clear once you’ve done it. And it promotes that elusive benefit, community spirit.

It’s an urban myth, apparently, that clearing the pavement outside your house could make you liable to pay damages if someone slipped there. That would only be the case if you’d done something completely unreasonable that created a new hazard.

In some countries, it’s the law. Everyone has to clear the stretch in front of their own homes. And that’s what people here used to do, not under compulsion but because it was the neighbourly thing to do. It’s a perfect example of community: a very small amount of work by each household keeps the pavements safe for everyone.

Why doesn’t the council send street sweepers to clear the snow? Waltham Forest services were contracted out long ago to a firm that offered to clean the streets on the cheap, left us ankle-deep in litter, then charged half a million pounds extra to clean up a bit more. We no longer have either council staff who can switch from one job to another as needed, or money to pay extra staff.

Yes, I know the council is legally obliged to keep the pavements safe, and you can sue it if you’re injured because it fails to do so. But presumably Waltham Forest council is hoping that any court cases it loses will work out cheaper than the cost of doing its duty.

As you look down our road you can see who’s cleared the pavement in front of their houses. My dear husband. Some public-spirited motorcyclists. And Peter McCarthy, creator of Music in the Village -- so here’s a plug for his wonderful concerts in St Mary’s Church, the next one on Thursday 14 Jan: http://www.walthamsoft.com/Villagemusic.

The rest of the way, it’s the same icy hazard that it’s been for weeks. A council that believed in its people might encourage the youngish among us to get out there and shovel a few metres of snow. Who doesn’t need the exercise after the excesses of the festive season? I could even offer a gruesomely honest slogan -- “Shovel away that festive flab!”

Comments(7)

Techno2 says...
12:51am Tue 12 Jan 10

People who are reluctant to be taken for a ride are not bad neighbours in my eyes. Your implication that there is a lack of community spirit in people who don't labour away to clear the pavements of snow and frozen dog pooh in front of their homes is a tad presumptuous. I know loads of otherwise neighbourly and community spirited people who don't shovel away in the freezing cold. They think that after paying massive rates to their hectoring council, they should get the service they paid for from them. That means they expect the corrupt local council to fulfil their legal duties to the residents and taxpayers and grit the pavements. It is notable that the council gritted some of the pavements around their own offices at the town hall.