New Development - Un-adopted Road - Grit Bins

DE_612183

Ok, so not sure if on the right board but I think it sits here.

I've got a 4 year old house on a new estate which the roads are un-adopted.

I recently ( in the bad weather ) got in touch with the local authority as the roads were quite bad ( there a few hills etc ) about the possibility of either gritting or providing grit bins so we could "do it ourselves"

The HA said the roads were un-adopted and to contact the Developer which I've done.

The Developer ( Redrow ) have said "there are no gritting bins indicated on any drawings or plans and therefore there is no requirement for us to provide any".

Now I guess they would not put any on the plans, as they probably assumed the HA would do this once adopted, but I was wonder - do they not have a responsibility to provide something to avoid any potential accidents?

comeandgo

No, the developers have no responsibility.  How about the people who want these bins pay for them?  We have similar situation, non adopted roads, though we do get gritters but not early enough so the residents all paid in some money and the bins were bought and the local quarry supplied the sand free.

DE_612183

comeandgo said:

No, the developers have no responsibility.  How about the people who want these bins pay for them?  We have similar situation, non adopted roads, though we do get gritters but not early enough so the residents all paid in some money and the bins were bought and the local quarry supplied the sand free.

ok thanks for that.

youth_leader

Good luck, I hope your neighbours chip in.  I went for a walk round the new estate here and regretted it during the very cold snap.  Both the pavements and road were sheet black ice, they don't have any grit bins either.  

Section62

comeandgo said:

No, the developers have no responsibility.  How about the people who want these bins pay for them?  We have similar situation, non adopted roads, though we do get gritters but not early enough so the residents all paid in some money and the bins were bought and the local quarry supplied the sand free.

Whoever currently owns the road has some responsibility for the safety of people using it.  If that is the developer then the developer is responsible.

They don't necessarily have a responsibility to provide grit bins automatically, but if it could be reasonably foreseen that someone using the road could have an accident as a result of the road/paths being icy then they could be liable for damage/injury caused or contributed to by their neglect to make appropriate provision or take reasonable precautions.

TL;DR -  If the developer still owns the road then they are at the very least unwise not to spend a few hundred quid on providing bins and filling them with 'grit', and equally unwise to put it in writing that "there is no requirement for us to provide any" because none are shown on the plans.

DE_612183

Section62 said:

comeandgo said:

No, the developers have no responsibility.  How about the people who want these bins pay for them?  We have similar situation, non adopted roads, though we do get gritters but not early enough so the residents all paid in some money and the bins were bought and the local quarry supplied the sand free.

Whoever currently owns the road has some responsibility for the safety of people using it.  If that is the developer then the developer is responsible.

They don't necessarily have a responsibility to provide grit bins automatically, but if it could be reasonably foreseen that someone using the road could have an accident as a result of the road/paths being icy then they could be liable for damage/injury caused or contributed to by their neglect to make appropriate provision or take reasonable precautions.

TL;DR -  If the developer still owns the road then they are at the very least unwise not to spend a few hundred quid on providing bins and filling them with 'grit', and equally unwise to put it in writing that "there is no requirement for us to provide any" because none are shown on the plans.

Thanks Section62 - Thats what I thought.

ps - what do you mean by TL;DR?

CurlySue2017

Be careful if you do decide to do it yourself

If you put grit on a public path and someone falls and injures themselves, you could be held liable

We found this out very recently from our local council......AFTER I had gritted the paths around our flats thinking I was doing the right thing

user1977

DE_612183 said:

Section62 said:

comeandgo said:

No, the developers have no responsibility.  How about the people who want these bins pay for them?  We have similar situation, non adopted roads, though we do get gritters but not early enough so the residents all paid in some money and the bins were bought and the local quarry supplied the sand free.

Whoever currently owns the road has some responsibility for the safety of people using it.  If that is the developer then the developer is responsible.

They don't necessarily have a responsibility to provide grit bins automatically, but if it could be reasonably foreseen that someone using the road could have an accident as a result of the road/paths being icy then they could be liable for damage/injury caused or contributed to by their neglect to make appropriate provision or take reasonable precautions.

TL;DR -  If the developer still owns the road then they are at the very least unwise not to spend a few hundred quid on providing bins and filling them with 'grit', and equally unwise to put it in writing that "there is no requirement for us to provide any" because none are shown on the plans.

ps - what do you mean by TL;DR?

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/TL;DR

silvercar

I live on a very old road, so fully council owned. The council now only provide grit bins for roads on a bus route in my area.

Section62

CurlySue2017 said:

Be careful if you do decide to do it yourself

If you put grit on a public path and someone falls and injures themselves, you could be held liable

We found this out very recently from our local council......AFTER I had gritted the paths around our flats thinking I was doing the right thing

You should ask your council to update its advice to residents.

Following severe weather in 2009/10 the Government and Local Government Association asked councils to make it clear that the risks were being very much overstated.  They should have a link to guidance which, if followed, should effectively make a resident immune from being successfully sued.

https://www.gov.uk/clear-snow-road-path-cycleway

Note that the guidance is about clearing snow and ice.  Spreading grit (on a public path) is inherently less risky than snow or ice clearance... unless in spreading it you manage to throw some into someone's eye.

JReacher1

My estate is 8 years old and its a death trap when its icy. We have grit bins but they are empty and although the roads are adopted the council won't fill them up.  Plus to be honest even if they were full I think we are all too lazy to actually use it :-)