Ice playing havoc in the Londonderry area

ELDERLY residents of Clondermot Park in Londonderry's Waterside were icebound over Christmas as the festive freeze took its toll.

One resident of the Altnagelvin sheltered housing estate said she was appalled at the condition of the footpaths in the cul-de-sac over Christmas and witnessed one 86-year-old man slip and fall as he tried to clear ice from the pavement.

Shelley Monteith lives in Clondermot Park with her disabled daughter but says the majority of residents of the fifty bungalows in the park are elderly and frail.

Speaking to the Sentinel she said not enough was being done by DRD Roads Service to alleviate the problem. Mrs Monteith said she phoned both the North and West housing association and the road authority but to no effect.

"I'm very concerned about the condition of the footpaths," she said. "People have been shut up in their homes since the heavy snowfall before Christmas. There is now an inch of ice over the park.

"It's a disgrace in this day and age that you have old age pensioners being left to cope with this," she added.

A member of North and West Housing's Property Services department said the roads and pavements in the park are the responsibility of Roads Service.

A spokesperson for DRD Roads Service told the Sentinel that during periods of subzero temperatures and snow, Roads Service resources are prioritised on ensuring the main roads networks are gritted and therefore Clondermot Park is not on the gritting schedule.

Teams of workers have been constantly successfully doing this over this period to ensure that the main road networks are kept open, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added: "During long periods of heavy snowfall, maximum effort will be concentrated on the key traffic routes. Clearing snow from motorways and the trunk roads will be given priority, before moving to other main roads and the busiest urban link roads.

"The salted network is around 7,000 km (4,300 miles) and covers 80 per cent of traffic in the North. Roads Service's resources are targeted on busier routes carrying most traffic and while we can understand the concerns of those who use the more lightly trafficked roads that are not included in the salted network, it is simply not possible to salt all roads."

Elsewhere the rural community in Eglinton, Claudy, Curryfree, Newbuildings and Donemana was also sorely affected by the plummeting temperatures.

Dairy farmers were facing the drastic prospect of pouring spoiling milk down the drain as tankers found the frozen roads impassable and were unable to collect it.

DUP Alderman William Hay said the situation was intolerable and called on DRD Roads Service to permit farmers to collect salt themselves in order to assist the thaw in rural areas.

"I am publically appealing for Roads Service to work with farmers - as has been done in the past - and allow them to collect salt from the depots and grit the roads themselves," he added.

A spokesperson for DRD Roads Service said: "Roads Service provides salt piles on rural roads.

"If rural residents are aware that salt piles need replenishing they should please report it to their local Roads Service depot."

Related topics: