Monday, March 12, 2012

Don't count on your council...

Graffiti these days seems to consist solely of 'tagging', those irritating and pathetic attempts to put a mark on something. In the olden days, graffiti said something, but now it's rare to find something thought provoking or controversial. My own favourite of the last few months, written in neat capitals in a Salford underpass, was: 'Bethany Atherley stinks of fish!'

So it was with pleasure that I noticed this message to the council:
Not that they'll take any notice. A couple of weeks ago our soak away drain was tarmaced over. This has been useful over the last five years, taking water from the downspout and soaking it away so it doesn't wash across the footpath. Now it does, because the council have blocked up the soak. They told me it wasn't a soak, it was caused by 'erosion' because there was no foot on the downspout. It reminded me of Father Ted, querying why Dougal hadn't taken Father Jack for his walk to the cliffs. 'They were gone' says Dougal. 'Gone?' says Ted incredulously, 'How could they be gone?' 'Er... erosion.'

Needless to say, I got no joy from the council. They have blocked up a perfectly useable drain, and now water floods across the footpath. The road is pitted and rutted, potholed and cratered. The footpath on Market Street has almost no flag that doesn't wobble. They've approved another £18million in cuts, to add to the ever-increasing amount they say they have to save, but have miraculously found £4.5million to improve the main market. They continue to pursue a ridiculous bid to gain city status when the town itself has the mentality of a small village...

*Gets off soapbox...*

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