Pedestrians’ nightmare

• COUNCILLOR Greg Foxsmith shouldn’t confuse excellent work by council employees with the shameful record of street maintenance by the council (Staff have true grit, January 15). This was particularly noticeable during the recent spell of ice and snow when not a single side street offered any comfort underfoot to the elderly, disabled or pram pushers. 
The bus stop area around Chambers Road on to Parkhurst/Camden Road was a nightmare to reach. We are now facing the problem of sinking pavements – already cracking up – and puddles so deep on pavements that people, took to the road. 
It is disingenuous to pretend the council came anywhere near to coping with the problem of a heavy, but brief fall of snow. Council tax-payers are just as entitled to safe pavements as motorists are to safe roads. 
Maybe then hospitals would have had fewer broken bones to cope with.

PETER THOMAS
Bardolph Road, N7

• I’m a councillor in neighbouring Haringey and I wish the Labour-run council here had done as good a job as Lib Dem-run Islington at clearing roads during the cold snap. If you went along the borough boundaries you could clearly see the difference, the main roads in Islington were gritted and the traffic kept moving while in places like Harringay Green Lanes the roads were so bad police were forced to close them to protect the public.
As for Haringey having a mountain of grit, I can tell Councillor Gary Doolan (Grit shortage: why are we the poor relation? January 8) that Haringey had to borrow grit from Barking and Dagenham. On top of that, Haringey had to beg the government’s Mutual Aid Scheme for 40 tonnes of grit. 

Cllr RICHARD WILSON
Lib Dem, Stroud Green ward, Haringey Council