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Dear Council Officer,
With enormous reluctance, I duly removed the little white sticks from the grass verge outside our house as requested. Today, exactly what I had anticipated would happen happened. A silver Vauxhall car was parked right up on the verge and damage to our neatly kept grass was caused. At this time of year grass verges can become especially soft and are therefore liable to be badly spoilt. I speak of course from bitter personal experience. I know for sure that if my white sticks had been in situ the damage would not have occurred. And once there is verge damage many other drivers think they have carte blanche to park on the grass so the damage quickly worsens.
I am attaching photos of the scene which you may like to compare with the last photo of the verge which I sent to you on October 23rd . Will you be pursuing the owner of the offending vehicle (registration DU06 GVE) and will someone come to repair the verge? It is heartbreaking to see the mess . I shall forward a copy of this correspondence to local councillor Penny Baker for her information. She seems to be very interested in this topsy turvy nonsense in which environmentally active residents like myself are threatened with financial penalties while drivers who damage verges get away scot free.
Yours truly,
Yorkshire Pudding
Dear Yorkshire Pudding,
Thank you for your email the contents of which are noted.
I have forwarded your email to Streets Ahead (tel 2734567) to investigate the matter of verge damage. They should shortly be in contact with you.
Finally, As we have previously discussed we do not want to have to take action to remove stakes like those you placed within the street.
However the action we have taken requesting you remove them is due to a report being made and advice given by Sheffield City Council’s Legal Department.
I trust you can appreciate, if the owner of the car had damaged their car on your stakes you may now be liable for damages as may the tax payer.
We understand your grief concerning the damage and we are just as aggrieved unfortunately we cannot assist in allowing for them to remain at this time due to the legal system of this country.
Yours Sincerely
Council Officer
Dear Council Officer,
There is no way that my little white sticks could ever have damaged a car. Several times previously I have suffered cars simply driving over the sticks. They are not solid like the horrible wooden pillars placed on streets like Huntley Road. My sticks were an effective visual deterrent. By the way, as I travel around Sheffield I see lots of sticks on people's verges and rocks too. I could easily list a hundred locations in S10 and S11 so why am I - along with my next door neighbour being singled out? To use a technical term, this is all a load of bollocks.
Yours truly,
Yorkshire Pudding
You are keeping remarkably cool.
ReplyDeleteThis is vandalism and should be prosecuted as such.
I am a cool guy Aid. Yes it is vandalism - apparently sanctioned by the council.
DeleteThe abbreviation is ADE. AID sounds like three quarters of a disease.
DeleteIt is good being relaxed. I would have waited for the bugger and given him to understand that he was a pillock. I'd have probably been hit.
Oh, dear! How bloody ridiculous!! Grrrrrrr! You are, as Adrian says, remaining remarkable cool.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent example of just how stupid some people are!! I'd be absolutely furious if I were in your shoes....bloody ridiculous...and I'm being as polite as I can! ;)
I am furious about it. In the past I have been down on my hands and knees repairing that verge - returfing it, forking it, reseedng it etc.. As I write I am comforted because my neighbour's old white van is parked next to the verge so no vandals can drive upon it. But it is just matter of time. Thank you for your moral support Lee.
DeleteOh no ! I knew it would be a reason like that but I have nothing to suggest. As you say others will see the damage and just park there now.
ReplyDeleteWe actually park like this on our own footpath as a safety measure ( we are on a curve of a narrowish street ) but our Queensland footpaths are hard as rock and it doesn't do any damage ( except make it harder by further compressing the soil )
PS On looking at your photo I notice the concrete/bitumen surface of the walking path is damaged and broken. Looks dangerous to me, someone might fall and sue the council for damages.( like you ??) You could bombard them with messages pointing out how it needs to be repaired !
ReplyDeleteHelen - The footpath was schedules for resurfacing this summer but the private company who have the contract seem as efficient as a bunch of bankers. Good point you make though. I shall keep it in mind.
DeleteBankers? Are you sure that should be a "B"?
DeleteYes, Adrian...I think Yorky made a typo, too....it should be with a "W"....
DeleteNot with a "T"?
DeleteThat is fooking heartbreaking YP. If it's any consolation, we've got horses being ridden over our grass verge and they very often leave a rather large present.
ReplyDeleteWhat sort of presents do they leave you I wonder? Oats? Horsehair cushions? Signed portraits of Shergar?
DeleteAre you allowed to plant there? I notice one tree next to the vandal - perhaps you could strategically place two more in protective enclosures??? How very aggravating and heartbreaking after all the work you've done!
ReplyDeleteNot really allowed to plant Homesteader. The little tree was planted by the city council years ago.I plan to put a plastic sign round the trunk of the tree with "Please do not park on the grass" on both sides. Then I shall wait for the next legalistic edict from the council
DeleteI think this planting idea is a good one YP. After all there are other trees there in the street ? ?
DeleteWell Mr. Pudding. I am sure that there is nothing else in your district that needs the council's attention except wasting time and money tending to the problem of white sticks on your verge. I am so sorry. This whole thing is just so ridiculous. Why don't you take the three council members and lock them in your basement. And, put them at hard labor making white sticks, of course.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea Mama Thyme. The council man said h is sending someone from "Streets Ahead" to see me. I shall invite that person in for adulterated tea and then move them into the underhouse before making my ransom demand.
DeleteI don't have that problem here in rural America, where it's evidently legal to shoot people for lesser crimes. I believe a little dog poop smeared on the window, and the words "Crappy Parking" written into it might have made me less like to shoot the tires out. Only the tires on my side, of course.
ReplyDeleteYou are one helluva tough lady Jan. If it wasn't for your chickens and darling Wesley I'd ask you to come over here to be my 24/7 verge guard.
DeleteThat looks like a very deliberate piece of vandalism to me. Proving it would, of course, be impossible. As would the remarkable coincidence of the 6" nails. Perhaps it was a deliberate act by a complainer to prove a point. People can be very nasty creatures YP.
ReplyDeleteAnd there was me thinking that Adolf Hitler had a good heart. It was just that people didn't understand where he was coming from. Graham - when the verge is soft after rain and a vehicle is aiming uphill it will automatically skid and churn up the grass.
DeleteMy darling Wesley is a highly trained ninja defense cat. Anyone who messes with me better bring their own band-aids. We'd come help you in a minute, but you seem to be doing pretty well for yourself.
ReplyDeleteThis is turning into a Silly Saga... would be laughable if it wasn't such a shame about the once so well-cared for grass verge.
ReplyDelete