I was out and about in the ward at the weekend and was really pleased to see that the grit bins that I had complained about (see previous post) had been filled, and that some residents had made use of the grit on their pavements and front paths. I’ve also sent people who live near the grit bins on Mayfield and Inderwick Road a letter with the number to call to get the Council to refill the bin next time its empty.
However, it struck me how few of the hill roads in Stroud Green have a grit bin at all. I couldn’t see one at all on Uplands, Denton, Albany or Oakfield Roads, and these are all quite steep and difficult when its icy. So please contact me if you think your road needs a grit bin, and you and your neighbours would make use of it. The Council’s website says that “suggestions for new sites are welcome”, so in theory this shouldn’t be difficult to sort out.
I also think the Council should do more to make residents aware of grit bins. I suspect many people don’t know what the yellow boxes are for or are not sure if the public are supposed to make use of them (which they are). Recently a Stroud Green resident emailed me a link to this website that promotes the use of ‘disused’ grit bins for community recycling. Most of the ‘disused’ bins are in Haringey – so it seems some enterprising residents are using the bins for other purposes (probably because the Council doesn’t actually put grit in them very often).