Wandsworth Residents Offered Free Bags of Grit
Council urges people to prepare for cold weather ahead
The council's grit storage facility
November 3, 2023
Despite the relatively mild weather experienced so far this year, Wandsworth Council is urging resident to be prepared for ice and snow.
Once again free bags of grit and rock salt are being offered as part of the town hall’s annual winter preparations for tackling snow and ice. Residents can received up to 50 kilos of grit free-of-charge to help them clear frozen footpaths.
When there is ice on the ground local people often contact the town hall to volunteer to clear paths in their neighbourhoods - and the council’s offer is designed to support these efforts.
Residents also have much better knowledge of their neighbourhoods and are better placed to clear ice from the front garden paths of vulnerable or elderly people living close by.
Last year around 20 tonnes of grit were given to residents, community groups and neighbourhood watch co-ordinators.
Anyone who wants to take advantage of this free offer can visit the council depot in Dormay Street between 9am and midday on Saturday, 11 November and Saturday, 18 November.
They will need to bring some proof of address to show they live in the borough. The depot’s postcode is SW18 1EY for people using sat-navs.
The council is also supplying sacks of grit to Wandsworth’s 200 neighbourhood watch co-ordinators and filling up grit bins across the borough so that local people have an immediate stock close at hand.
There are now 56 of these bins located around the borough, situated mainly in hilly areas where icy pavements can be particularly treacherous. To find the location of your nearest grit bin visit www.wandsworth.gov.uk/snow.
When temperatures plummet and roads and footpaths are covered in snow and ice the council’s fleet of gritting vehicles and dozens of staff are dispatched to clear it away, but with nearly 230 miles of road surface and 450 miles of pavements it is a mammoth task that always takes time to complete.
And to make the gritting of roads and pavements work effectively it needs repeated treatments – especially if temperatures drop further or there is another flurry of snow.
When snow has fallen, the priority is to keep the borough’s main roads clear of ice so that the emergency services and public transport can keep running. Particular attention is always paid to entrances at tube and rail stations, hospitals, day centres, schools, care homes, clinics and nurseries.
The gritting of borough red routes and their adjoining pavements is managed by Transport for London - these include the A3, A24, A205, A214, A306, A3205 and A3220.
For more information about the free grit offer call (020) 8871 6750.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
