Letter: Why NFDC made me a curmudgeon
I fear I have become a curmudgeon, but in my defence, the state of council services and their apparent lack of resource management have been the catalysts for this unwelcome transformation from my previous Clark Kent persona.
It all started when I recently watched three council workmen take two days to plant flowers in a small garden area next to the pedestrian crossings at Stanford Hill, Lymington. The arrangement was very nice, but I clearly missed something important in understanding why it took six man days to plant some flowers.
Then, a few weeks later, our neighbourhood got together to collectively write to Cllr Dunning about the potholes in our small cul-de-sac and the excessive weeds on the road verge blocking some drains and appearing very unsightly. The county council sent a man along who inspected the holes and weeds and, when asked, said that two of the potholes and the weeds didn’t meet the ‘criteria’ for intervention. When asked what the criteria were, he said he wasn’t allowed to disclose this on the instructions of the county council’s legal department!
However, one of the small potholes was cited for repair, and thankfully five men came to ensure it was properly filled in.
The New Forest council wrote to us about the weeds and said they were contracted by the county council to carry out a single weed spray sometime before September but encouraged us to write to the county council because this provision is inadequate. Of course it is. Any half-knowledgeable gardener will tell you that you have to spray weeds in late spring and early summer before the weeds seed and spread!
My interest in council efficiency and effectiveness was now piqued, and I didn’t have to wait long for my next foray into council engagement.
If you walk to the Lymington Health and Leisure Centre from the town, you walk along Milford Road and turn into North Street.
The pavement in Milford Road is inaccessible due to excessive plant growth, forcing pedestrians onto the verge and in places very close to the road. It’s inaccessible to people using wheelchairs and very difficult to push a pram. The pavement on North Street has similarly been reduced to single breast because of overgrowth; naturally, it’s getting worse every day.
I wrote to the county council to report this two weeks ago and – surprise, surprise – nothing has been done. I suspect it doesn’t meet their ‘criteria’.
There you have it. I’m clearly now a curmudgeon, and it’s all the fault of the council. I don’t believe it!
Kevin Mathieson
Lymington
