Fears over hazardous Fife pavements after grit bins removed

Urgent meeting sought after more than 200 bins taken away

Icy pavements in north-east Fife have been branded a health hazard following the removal of more than 200 grit bins in the area.

Councillors are seeking an urgent meeting with Fife Council officers this week amid fears someone could be seriously hurt if they slip and fall.

The end of last week saw a barrage of complaints as people attempted – and often failed – to negotiate slippery paths.

The council had been in the process of taking away grit bins from priority one routes, where roads are already gritted by the local authority, as part of a bid to save £125,000 on winter maintenance.

The recent cold spell prompted the authority to suspend the removal of bins – but not before around 250 had already been taken away in north Fife.

Liberal Democrat group leader and Tay Bridgehead councillor Tim Brett said: “It would appear north-east Fife is disadvantaged because all 250 bins in our area have been withdrawn but the process has been halted elsewhere.

“We are continuing to get concerns from residents across our ward about this and particularly about the hazardous position for pedestrians on icy pavements, where previously local residents could tackle this themselves but now no longer have the ability to do so.”

Conservative group depute leader Andy Heer said taking away grit bins where roads are gritted seven days a week did not work as it meant pavements remained untouched.

He said the mini gritter which used to grit paths had also been taken away.

“Pavements don’t get gritted and they’ve taken away the means for the public to do it for themselves,” he said.

“The council is encouraging people to walk to work, walk to school, walk to the shops but they’re gritting the roads and not the pavements.

Senior transportation manager Derek Crowe said a decision had been taken by councillors in 2016-17 to cap the number of grit bins as the position had become unsustainable, adding: “Further... budget savings were approved on the winter services budget that covered footway gritting, carriageway route optimisation and grit bin reduction.”

Mr Crowe said the transportation team had been dealing with requests for reinstatement on a case-by-case basis and that no more would be removed before the end of the winter.

The council is encouraging people to walk to work, walk to school, walk to the shops but they’re gritting the roads and not the pavements. ANDY HEER

Picture: Steven Brown. A slippy street in Glenrothes. Residents across Fife had previously been able to help themselves to grit from the bins when required.