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Letter: Threat to sue spoiled community effort
Tuesday 26th January 2010, 7:57AM GMT.
Letter: During the two weeks that we had very bad weather I continually tried to keep the Coney Green area clear for the elderly and more younger members of our community.
However, due to comments of one passer-by during a particularly heavy fall who told me: “Now you have cleaned and salted the road if I fall over I will sue you”, it does not take a genius to guess what happened next.
I simply hoped it would snow more and then I would leave things just as they were.
How sad that one individual can cause so much distress.
I watched sadly as the elderly, disabled and young children struggled along what by now was an ice rink.
I was even more surprised that Shropshire Council did not take action to grit this area from the first signs of snow as it is the main thoroughfare to and from the town centre and schools it also has one our main supermarkets.
Perhaps in future snow falls the council may consider this as important for pedestrians as they do main roads for cars.
Councillor Alun Cherrington
Oswestry
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No one has ever produced any real proof of this urban myth, and i’m sure there are ambulance chasing parasites that have tried yet failed to obtain free money this way. so well done for your efforts and don’t let this scum prevent you from doing the right thing..
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Form “Gaurdian money”, Sat 10th Jan ’10.
“. I’ve cleared the snow from our driveway. Am I opening myself up to a claim if someone slips?
This is an urban myth. If you do the reasonable thing and clear your drive, you are not opening yourself up to a possible claim, except in very exceptional circumstances.
“This is a common misconception,” McQuater says. “By clearing the snow from your paths, you do not invite any extra liability that wouldn’t have existed had you done nothing and left the snow on the ground. The only circumstance in which you might invite a claim was if you acted completely unreasonably, and somehow created a new latent hazard that had not existed before your actions.”
For example, if you poured huge quantities of water on to your drive which then froze to create a dangerous hazard, that in theory might open you up to a claim, he suggests.”
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HERE HERE, It is a an urban myth used by head teachers to close schools in bad weather , councils not to keep paths clear etc etc etc etc where is the proof??? I want to see it .As said it is a way of the parasites of our society to get free money in the very few cases that succeed in winning a payout .People from my experiance pay the modest levels of compo etc to the scroungers because it is easier to do that than argue in court so the scrounger win by default and never actually starts legal action . Time for people to stick their heals in and say get lost I am not giving you a penny MAKE THEM FIGHT FOR IT.
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Good on you for clearing the snow for others. More community spirit like yours would make the world a nicer place to live. When the numpty who fell over gets old and less mobile, he’ll appreciate someone clearing the snow from his route to the post office to collect his pension. Hooray for you.
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This has nothing to do with Teachers..
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Another community spoiler..
What is that nasty white van parked on near the M54 by Wellington Retail park.- it says “CCTV You are being watched” on the side.. is it a joke, a company advert or what? So much for policing with consent. Perhaps someone should ask them who they are? (joke).
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Screw them Councillor. There are a lot of evil people in the world. Rest assured, by doing the clearing out of the goodness of your own heart, you will have made someone happy and someone’s life easier. Forget the rest!
From a Shropshire-ite living in Aus
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Getting sued for clearing snow from your path? Serves you right you bloody do-gooder!
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It has been reported that a Shropshire Council spokesman (sorry… spokesperson) stated that the main reason for having to cancel rubbish collections during the big freeze was that pavements were considered to be in too dangerous a state to allow Council staff out.
Is this the same Shropshire Council that saw no reason, apart from cost, that is, to clear and salt pavements to ensure the safety of taxpaying pedestrians… which everyone is once they get out of their cars.
One rule for them, another for us.
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We did clear our small cul-de-sac and everyone was very grateful. I looked into the possibility of being sued and discovered that this could only happen if we made the road more slippery by our actions i.e. pouring water on it which later became frozen. So it really is myth that putting grit and salt on a road will result in an individual being sued!
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Cllr Cherrington did a service for the local community and some for the want of a better word,!
pillock comes out with such a remark.
Cllr Cherrington works hard for the locals as he is a local himself, living in Oswestry all his life bar his service in the Royal Navy.
Such inane remarks have cause people to say ah to hell with it, but not him. Well done and continue your service, NO I am NOT biazed just because he is my brother, well done Pete keep it up.
John Cherrington Lausanne Switzerland.
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