One in three yellow grit bins in Coventry to be removed as cold weather arrives

[dutchman]

The city council says the move will save about £7,000 a year



A third of Coventry's yellow grit bins could be removed just as the cold weather begins to bite.

The local authority is set to take away 179 of the 548 rock salt bins which people can use to help keep the pavements free of ice.

Anyone can use the bins which are usually placed in areas with steep slopes and access points to sites such as schools, doctors’ surgeries and old peoples’ residential homes.

But council staff have started the process of removing them just as the city gears up to face freezing winter temperatures.

A review of grit bins was ordered in 2014 after the number increased dramatically in a short space of time - from 300 in 2012 to 548 today - after a surge of requests from the public.

But council officials said the previous criteria for grit bin provision was proving too costly and predict the new system is likely to result in a saving of about £7,000 a year.

Reducing the number of bins by 33 per cent will help the council save on refilling and inspection costs which were estimated to be about £42,000 a year in a 2014 council report which also said the bins were refilled three times a year on average.

A spokesman for Coventry City Council said: “We recently reviewed where all the grit bins are in the city.

“Following this we introduced guidelines on the kinds of locations where a grit bin would be of benefit and these are at many locations throughout the city.

“The decision to provide grit bins is based on road gradient, amount of traffic and local amenities and some existing locations fall short of these conditions.

“In some cases we have grit bins in close proximity where one would be enough. This is also providing some savings to the council.”