Guilt and Height Barriers

[maureenandtom]

There's something I've always been a bit bemused about.

We have some sort of guilt about what we do because we're always afraid that unless we toe the council line they'll put up a height barrier. Don't park there or they'll put up a height barrier and we won't be able to park there.

Here and now we have old folks homes closing, care for the disabled and elderly being cut, libraries being closed, roads going unmaintained, council jobs being lost and so it goes on.

We're always scared though, that they'll find enough of our money to put up a height barrier. Just to punish the few who spoil it for the rest of us?

If we didn't feel guilty then we'd stand our ground, wouldn't we? Tell them we'd rather have a library than a height barrier.

 

[donkey too]

To try and tell a council anything is like banging your head against a wall.
where I live the barriers are all 6 feet. and for 18 years (a lot of that time as a councillor myself) I have been asking them to at least higher them so that wheelchair carrying vehicles can access them. To no effect.
I am now classed as a nuisance in this district because I use my vehicle to carry a large 55 kilos electric power chair and I pull up to the barrier where there is staff on duty such as the sports centre and sit there and blow my horn until they come out and open the barrier for me. I was told last week at the sports centre that they are talking of ignoring me all together next time I do it. I hope so then I can take them to court. under the dissability discrimination act 1995. At the moment as long as they are opening the barrier they are seen as not discriminating against me.
I also did a similar thing in the high street when I couldn't park as a police car was in the disabled bay while the woman (a blond) was getting the newspapers fromthe shop. By t the time she came out to see what the fuss was about I had stopped the traffic in the whole length of the high street. She tried to tell me I was causing an obstruction. so while I was taking pics from my cab of her car etc., I told her to arrest me. Once again I was called a trouble maker.
I don't go out to look for trouble. I don't want special privileges. I cant demand special privileges but I CAN DEMAND EQUALITY.

 

[John H]

We're always scared though, that they'll find enough of our money to put up a height barrier. Just to punish the few who spoil it for the rest of us?

The "logic" seems to be that they are terrified that "gypsies" will move in and the cost of a height barrier is much less than the cost of getting them off and clearing up the mess afterwards. The fact is, of course, that anybody who has that kind of disregard for society will not be put off by a barrier they can easily demolish. The people who suffer are the law-abiding ones who cause no nuisance and leave no mess. Its the same with open-air drinking bans - the lager louts don't give a toss but we can't have a picnic with a bottle of wine in the local park. Nonsense - but council officers are well-known for wanting to stop everything they can so that they have an easy life (that is why they go well over the top with health and safety regulations for open-air events etc). On top of that, many elected councillors, when faced with a complaint from their electorate, want to be seen to be "doing something" rather than telling potential voters that they are small-minded! Height barriers are a cheap way of being seen to do something. The rest of us end up banging our heads against walls. The only way to change any of this is to change human nature - good luck!

 

[Bigpeetee]

Anyone who goes against the council is considered a trouble maker or a "bit odd"

I'm generalising now, but many people who get positions of power, be it in local government, NHS, central government probably couldn't make it in a world where failure often results in dismissal. In their world, failure can equal promotion!

This is not true of everyone, but in my experience, the great majority in these positions don't understand hard work, where your job is on the line. They do however understand "Stress", the number of absences due to stress in local govt, NHS is scandalous.

As far a demanding access etc, keep it up, the more these people are made to work for the public, those that pay for their above average wages, the better.

So if you challenge them, all the better. Keep it up.

Anyway, your allowed to become more cantankerous as you get older, it's the law!!

 

[Tco]

I would agree that if you complain to the council you are definitely called a nuisance. Nearly fifty years ago, when our houses had just been built, a builder further down the road damaged our sewer so badly that it overflowed into the local stream. The eight householders on the sewer at that time (there are a lot more now) wrote both to the builder and the local council citing public health issues.

When the council engineer eventually came to see the problem because of my continual prompting, he agreed immediately that it needed fixing fast. He did make the remark that "When I saw your letter I thought it was a bunch of resident's being stroppy". Note that this was the first reaction and he had been sent out to shut us up. Our delight at the fact that he was horrified when he saw what had happened was tempered with the thought that they didn't believe us at the first instance.

The next day the builder who damaged the sewer was there fixing it. He must have known of the damage when he did it, but it took us three weeks(!) to get it repaired.

 

[vwalan]

hi, better to be labled a trouble maker at least they know someone is complaining. if nobody complains they assume they are doing it right. get your friends to do it as well. sometimes it does make a differance.
cheers alan
the revolution as started. hee hee.

 

[donkey too]

hi, better to be labled a trouble maker at least they know someone is complaining. if nobody complains they assume they are doing it right. get your friends to do it as well. sometimes it does make a differance.
cheers alan
the revolution as started. hee hee.

I always thought you were revolting.:lol-053::lol-053:

 

[vwalan]

hi . i always thought i am charming ,good looking ,got a nice personality and young looking. not at all vain.
thanks for the compliment i shall take in the way it was meant . charming .
i think your jealous . i,m perfik. cheers alan.