For residents of the Zandsteenlaan, Vuursteenlaan and Arduinlaan in the Vinkhuizen district in Groningen, smooth paving stones have been an eyesore for some time. Because they believe that the municipality is not sufficiently tackling the problem, they have taken a decision on Friday evening and replaced a few square meters of paving stones.
With this action, the residents are once again asking the municipality to replace the current bricks, so that no more elderly people, postmen, home care workers or children slip.
Cleaning doesn’t help
They have engaged the SP to draw attention to the problem. The party previously raised the problem in the city council and brought residents into contact with the alderman. This led to a visit by the alderman to the neighborhood and a number of appointments.
The municipality would clean the stones in a new way, which should lead to less slipperiness, but according to residents that has hardly helped. According to them, replacing the stones is ‘the only workable solution’.