By News Reporters
Fitzrovia will not get its fair share of street and pavement gritting this winter according to a local pensioner who rang Fitzrovia News to complain after reading Camden Council’s latest guide to its services.
The male octogenarian called our news office to draw our attention to page 17 of Camden’s magazine which is delivered to all residents in the borough. In an article entitled “Get ready for winter” it shows a map of the streets Camden will grit. Only Tottenham Court Road, Great Russell Street and Gower Street are on Camden’s gritting route. Under the map it says “our reduced budget and resources means we may not be able to grit some side roads and footpaths”.
The resident who lives off Charlotte Street told Fitzrovia News: “Camden Council will have completely failed the old and vulnerable in Fitzrovia this winter.”
But he noticed that further east in Bloomsbury more streets will be on the gritting route: “The streets around Marchmont Street are to be gritted probably because two of our councillors live in that area. This is not good enough. Camden really are the pits.”
Sarah Hayward in her personal column in the Camden magazine highlighted the council’s winter preparations. She also remarked that the Council had received some “positive feedback from residents, for example on twitter, which is nice to hear”.
Our elderly resident, who is not a twitter user, responded by saying: “Sarah Hayward needs to stop tweeting, and get gritting!”
On page 18 Camden invites residents to use some of “over 170 grit bins in Camden” to help the council distribute grit this winter. However, none of these grit bins are in Fitzrovia says our sprightly pensioner who likes to take a daily walk around the neighbourhood to keep fit. A map on Camden’s website shows that the nearest grit bins are at Herbrand Street in Bloomsbury and in Robert Street on the Regent’s Park estate.
The man who is one of Fitzrovia’s oldest residents says that he has already suffered one broken hip and doesn’t want to endure another. He told us: “If I slip and fall this winter because of Camden’s failure to ensure our streets and pavements are safe, I’m going to be very angry!”