There have been five drain covers stolen in as many weeks, four of them in close proximity to Blackhall Colliery Primary School and the fifth outside Blackhall library. On each occasion we have asked for the open drain to be made safe against accidents and in each case the council has responded immediately.
Although this type of theft cannot be justified under any circumstances, the specific location of the stolen drain covers has given us particular cause for concern.
After listening to concerned residents over the past few days we have contacted the head of direct services at county hall today to ask if the council would consider removing all existing drain covers and replace them with those of little or no value to opportunist thieves.
We have reproduced our correspondence below in full:
Over the past
few weeks there has been a spate of drain cover thefts in Blackhall Colliery.
At the latest count there have been five covers stolen in as many weeks,
four of them on walk-to-school routes and in close proximity to Blackhall
Colliery Primary School, and the fifth directly opposite the Blackhall branch
library on Hesleden Road.
Clearly this
poses a significant risk to children and older people using these facilities
and we are concerned that it is only a matter of time before someone is
seriously injured as a direct result of these mindless thefts.
In the
absence of any obvious solution to this problem we would ask the council to
consider removing all grates and drain covers, recouping the value and
replacing them with the type of drain cover which is of little or no value to
thieves.
We will monitor progress with our request and keep residents up to date with developments but in the meantime please take extra care when out and about, especially after dark.