News from Brent Labour

Brent Lib Dems lack the grit to deal with big freeze

Lib Dem and Tory controlled Brent Council is rapidly running out of grit to deal with the wintry conditions on Brent’s roads and pavements. The Council’s Head of Environmental Management has admitted that ‘grit stock levels are now at a very critical level’ and ‘We are treating a reduced network of priority roads’.

Meanwhile all refuse and recycling collections have been suspended and will not return to normal until 18 January. In some parts of the borough residents have not had their refuse collected since Christmas Eve.

Labour has tabled a motion for the next council meeting (25 January) calling for a report on how the Council’s response to adverse weather conditions can be improved in the future.

Council grit bins providing grit for local residents had already run out by last weekend. The photograph accompanying this article shows the Labour MP for Brent South, Dawn Butler and the Deputy Leader of Brent Council’s Labour Opposition, Cllr Muhammed Butt, next to an empty grit bin in Wembley High Road last weekend.

Labour’s Environment Spokesperson, Cllr James Powney, said:

“The Lib Dems cut the budget for winter maintenance by £38,000 in 2007-08 and Brent Council now provides a paltry £281,580 for winter maintenance compared with £2.3 million on communications and over a million pounds on outside consultants to tell them how to save money! No wonder local people are afraid to go out in this weather for fear that they may fall over on Brent’s icy pavements and no wonder so many of our road surfaces are so dangerous for motorists. We live in a northern European country where snow is a meteorological fact of life and the Council should be prepared for it.”