The Spurtle now has a definitive list of the City of Edinburgh Council's grit-bins. You can download it by clicking on the link at the foot of this page.
The database – which CEC officials assured us last week did not exist, could not be produced and would not be easily understood by members of the public even if it were (Breaking news 10.12.10) – was quickly supplied following a request from Leith Walk Councillor Louise Lang.
Surprise, surprise, the list of 1,721 citywide grit-bin locations is perfectly easy to understand. And perhaps that is why City officials did not want us to have it: it clearly shows that some parts of Edinburgh are much better served than others.
Outlying areas appear to have more, whilst in what might loosely be described as Broughton, for example, there are a mere 26 (entries 1395–1421). The list of 65 city-centre grit-bins supplied by Cllr Charles Dundas (Breaking news 6.12.10) has been superseded.
The long incline from the top of Broughton Street down through Mansfield Place, Bellevue, Rodney Street and Canonmills is not served at all, which would explain why pavements on this route have been so treacherous of late.
Similarly, Albany Street, Broughton Road, Dublin Street, East Claremont Street, McDonald Road and Pilrig Street are grit-free zones. Leith Walk, Annandale, Dundas and Howe Streets have just one bin each.
Perhaps these routes are routinely served by gritting lorries as Category 1 thoroughfares, but this is no consolation whatsoever to pedestrians. CEC's recent and belated offer to deliver grit to our doorsteps (Breaking news 10.12.10) is also of little use since, as they admit, if conditions are icy then Council lorries will be unable to gain access and supply.
What this list highlights is that CEC's high-minded and much-vaunted expectation that members of the public should clear their own pavements was based on a false premise. There is not enough grit locally available for public-spirited citizens to do as they are asked.
Bafflingly, there appears to have been a drastic reduction in the number of grit-bins since CEC first started telling us to play our part earlier in the year – the period when Cllr Dundas was given a list of city-centre locations.
The Council should now stop being so slippery. They must act to facilitate basic levels of pedestrian safety in the city centre during winter weather. That means either gritting pavements without waiting to be asked, or restoring regularly refilled grit-bins to far more street corners for use by the public.