On 5 Jun 2007 at 8:17am A Malling resident wrote:
Come and cut our grass verges...if you leave it much longer you'll need a combine harvester.....people have started to cut the verges themselves...WHAT DO WE PAY COUNCIL TAX FOR??
On 5 Jun 2007 at 9:48am The Tooth Fairy wrote:
You pay council tax to fund the pensions of ex-council employees who have retired at 55 after spending a number of years incompetently handling the affairs of this town. (And now you're helping out with the parking fees at county hall).
[email protected] or you can ask this bloke.
On 5 Jun 2007 at 10:11am A Malling resident wrote:
I expect they will cut our rubbish collections to once a fortnight soon as well... long grass AND piles of rubbish...How nice!
On 5 Jun 2007 at 12:17pm Andy wrote:
Lewes operate a 6 or 7 week verge cutting round ie the verges are cut every 6 or 7 weeks. This is far too infrequent. In Brighton, we cut the verges every 3 weeks.....and they pay less council tax than us !!!
On 5 Jun 2007 at 6:22pm me wrote:
I have to admit after visiting people in malling i noticed the jungle like verges. More tax for less service
On 5 Jun 2007 at 8:20pm I dont live in Lewes anymore wrote:
[email protected] or you can ask this bloke.
hxxp://phil.elachys.com/uploads/wud-u-trust-this-man.JPG
It seems that it's now been difficult to post links.
Sozs just change the xx to tt
PhilX
On 6 Jun 2007 at 10:10am Mystic Mog wrote:
Small plea please be more specific than just "the council". I assume that you mean East Sussex County Council. As you you know there are 3 Councils that affect us - in different ways with differing political colours and policy remits. If you have a problem I assume that you have talked to your ward councillor - if so what has been their reaction etc?
On 6 Jun 2007 at 11:27am A Malling resident wrote:
I haven't got time to fart about trying to get people to do their job properly...shouldn't have too...
On 6 Jun 2007 at 11:51am Mystic Mog wrote:
Please try and understand how people can help. If the County Council are not doing there job properly a County, District, or Town ward councillor could be contacted and try and exert some pressure on your behalf.
I agree one should not have to mess about, but sometimnes one has to - otherwise nothing ever changes. The councillor will do the graft on you behalf - that is what they are there for.
Give your local councillors a ring / email or acost them in the street! They are there to try and change things - that is why you elected them.
On 6 Jun 2007 at 10:18pm For The Record wrote:
Mystic Mog writes "The councillor will do the graft on you behalf" - that is hilarious!
I am completely disillusioned with LDC and ESCC Councillors - the former (Bridge ward) refused to liaise with their constituents regarding planning applications in their ward (as they both sat on the planning application committee), and the latter (Highways Councillor) could only comment in public "boll*cks, that's absolute boll*cks" when confronted with written statements from the Fire Brigade expressing their concern about not be able to access a road in Lewes that is to have a enormous development erected in it.
So much for democracy!
On 7 Jun 2007 at 7:25pm SHS wrote:
Have to support For The Record here, I have tried working with local ward councillors (who I still think in general do a good job), writing to the powers that be at County Hall, our MP, and others; after nearly two years and about 20 letters plus several emails, nothing has been done because ESCC do not have the money to make anything a priority unless either (a) it saves them money elsewhere or (b) people are being killed as a result of their inaction.
On 7 Jun 2007 at 9:20pm ExiledfromLewes wrote:
When I am in Lewes I see that quite a few people tend to do it themselves, not saying thats what you should do. When i found out a couple of years ago that the ESCC was in control of the grass cutting I was surprised, i think it would be better if that budget was handled by a more local council and then you could compare towns throughout the county instead of having the same system from Hastings to Lewes.
Not to much to add further than to state that the council probably don't see it as a priority and they want to cut costs. It's probably not fair, but all you can do is either accept it, cut it yourself or have infinate patience and spend the next few months complaining.
On 7 Jun 2007 at 9:59pm Mystic mog wrote:
'Record' your comments about Baxters are founded.
On 7 Jun 2007 at 11:59pm For The Record wrote:
"Mog" - perhaps you should have stated shaft instead of graft!
On 8 Jun 2007 at 12:35am very irritated wrote:
It is worth just e-mailing your Councillor. just write @I would be grateful if you would let me know why the verges are not being cut in xxxxroad" dont bother with anything else. It is a reasonable question, and there may be a reasonable explaination, like a contractor has nipped off on holiday, and they weren't told. It is more likely to be something to do with them being incompetant but give them at least one chance, as some of the employees are Ok, especially the ones that put up with crappy managers who get big salaries for failing to notice that their planning department couldn't plan a childrens party. (I know that is LDC not ESCC but they are both as bad as each other)
On 8 Jun 2007 at 8:41am A Malling resident wrote:
'very irritated'...do you work for the council?
On 8 Jun 2007 at 8:49am Mystic mog wrote:
Perhaps outsourcing is one one the problems - discuss.
On 8 Jun 2007 at 1:58pm X wrote:
Outsourcing would probably make things better if it weren't for the crap officers who seem to draw up contracts that allow companies to take the piss
On 8 Jun 2007 at 3:26pm very irritated wrote:
Ha ha. You must be joking! No but if you give them a chance to remedy the problem (which they are very unlikely to do) Your complaint becomes much stronger. Also with some complaints, like street lights going out, no one can really expect someone from the Council to go round checking every night, so it is reasonable for us to let them know. Councillors are responsible to the electorate, not the Council so if your Councillor refuses to ask your reasonable request, then you can complain to the Standards Board who are notoriously hard on Councillors. If you are rude, or sarcastic when asking the question they will say you are being intentionally problematic, so keep it simple, and impersonal.
On 16 Jun 2007 at 11:10pm Dougal wrote:
Good for the insects, so good for the birds - all in all much more environmentally friendly- situation just as bad on Wallands so I console myself that at least the bird life benefits...