Local shops are emptied of salt
One man who believes the council’s gritting priorities are all wrong is 65-year-old Alexander Montgomery.
Mr Mongomery’s 34-year-old granddaughter lives in a sheltered housing development in Torbrex Road, Stirling.
He said the roads and pavements around the complex were frozen up all last week.
“When I was turning into the place my car was sliding all over the place,” he said.“You couldn’t keep your feet. I saw the council workers spreading grit in King’s Park and asked them why there had been no grit spread around the sheltered housing .
“They said a squad covering the area would be up but no-one came and nothing was done.
“I would have thought the pavements and road around a sheltered housing complex where handicapped people live would have a higher priority.”
On social media, Sue McAllister was scathing about the state of pavements around Stirling High and felt the lessons of the Big Freeze of 2010 had not been learned.
“Children walking to Stirling High and to St Ninians Primary had to walk on the road,”she added.
“By Friday, although many main routes were treated and cleared some by volume of traffic, there was little evidence of pavements gritted outwith the town centre.”
Gordon Copland added: “It is time for a complete rethink on the use of grit in the whole of Stirling Council area. All pavements as well as roads should be gritted, for the safety of all residents. “
Andrena Davidson said: “There is not a single grit bin in the whole of Fallin yet there are two within meters of each other at Millhall. The council, to give them their due, did provide some for use in the village, after many complaints, but it was a very temporary fix – they basically dumped a mound on some disused land.”
Robert Easton commented:“Raploch area, down by the fire station, has many elderly residents and (last week) the area was nothing but an ice sheet. Family members went down to B&Q bought salt bags and gritted the paths and steps of all the old people in the estate.”
Susan Tahsin said:“The path at Goosecroft Road leading to to bus stop and train station was disgraceful and yet it’s a route many use.”
Lynn McCambridge posted:“Plean is bad. My dad fell and broke his ankle. The council need to get into gear and get out to all the wee streets and salt them. There’s a lot of pensioners in Plean so they need to get it dealt with before something really bad happens.”
Jane Steel was also critical of the absence of gritters and added: “Stirling Council is pushing their incompetence and inability to deliver essential services on to the NHS whose emergency services are now stretched to the limit with injuries due to falls on ice. There is no grit available to purchase anywhere as its all been bought up. Stores apparently bought their usual amount but hadn’t anticipated that the council had clearly decided not to bother gritting the majority of side streets or any pavements this year.”