A DISGRACE
I don't know how Derby City Council has
the nerve to go around to its tenants, check to
see if they are keeping their gardens tidy, then
tell those who do not keep their gardens in order
to get them tidied up, when they do not do so
themselves.
My neighbour, who has struggled for some years to
keep her garden tidy, now finds the task too much
and has asked the council to help her. I
understand that the council only cuts grass and
cuts back shrubs but even then they are not doing
it on a regular basis.
The last time they cut the grass was six weeks
ago and it is getting very high. If other tenants
left their gardens in this state they would be
warned to get it done. Don't they realise that
this causes great discomfort to people with
allergies?
And when it is cut it makes these conditions
worse. The council should practice what they
preach and help people who genuinely are not able
to do these tasks themselves.
How do they think these people feel after working
so hard to keep their gardens neat and tidy for
years, to find they cannot manage them anymore?
And then the council just lets them get
overgrown, it must be very disheartening. I think
it is a disgrace. Mrs C Parker |
BUS
LANE
Having had the pleasure of witnessing
the new 100m bus lane in Osmaston Road this
morning as I was driving through Allenton to
Derby (it's not a crime), I was wondering why the
traffic was backed up much more than normal.
Of course, when I finally got to Spider Island I
found out. The traffic in my opinion backed up at
least 150m more than normal. So if we, and Derby
City Council, think about it all, the bus lane is
slowing the bus down! I know this for a fact as
the bus was following me!
I cannot believe what a waste of time and
taxpayers money this is. The bus is not going to
get anywhere quicker using this silly lane and
the car driver is also slowed down into the
bargain. I read this lane cost £500.
And we will have to put up with it until it is
scrubbed out at yet more cost. Could the
leadership of the council please spend some money
on improving things in the city instead of
wasting people's time and money? Perhaps they
should ask the people in Derby what they want and
how to do it? Philip Ingall |
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COUNCIL OPINION
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MODERN
DAY DICK TURPINS
After many years of contact with the Council on
road safety I have yet to receive any common sense
response to any matters that I have raised. All
correspondence having now ceased. This is due to them
being unable to justify their existance and having no
factual or accepatable answers to problems pointed out to
them. We now have a new road safety partnership with a
new manager but no one in total control of the whole
organization.
This just sums up what Derbyshire has to contend with
when no one can be held responsible for poor results or
the ineffective operations they deploy. They now have
"free rein" to operate as they see fit and use
covert camera vehicles and disregard all and every
regulation relating to operating speed detection
equipment. They are also employing civilian staff to
operate these cameras and road policing is fast being
moved into history, they are no better than muggers and
need prosecuting themselves.
The reduction figures in RTCs they claim are blown out of
all proportion when analysed and taken apart. The TRL
states a 6% reduction for building safer vehicles,add to
this a 3% reduction for better driving and out of a
claimed 19% reduction over a 5 year period (police
statement) it would look more realistic and reflect a
failure of camera operations and those who advocate and
operate them. Derbyshire claims a reduction in RTCs but a
rise in fatalities. This converts to less chance of being
involved but more chance of being killed. What a claim
that is for cameras (and those who operate them).
All at the Council now refuses to correspond on "any
matters" brought to their attention and would convey
that they do not have the answers to anything which is
put to them. On reducing speed limits they even disregard
the objections and advice given by the police and install
lower limits that cannot be enforced. Last year one
Councillor stated he would consult his advisors and
contact me later on one matter but I am still awaiting
any response to my letters of concern. I am advised that
the Council is democratic in its actions but when asked
why a few hundred can request all kinds of speed humps
etc, and receive these without failure but, when 9,000
sign a petition for their removal it is rejected (this
being democracy at work).
Council has installed a new recycle facility but on
arrival I was infromed that I could only dispose of two x
25 Kg bags of rubble. This meant a trip to the otherside
of town to dispose of two out of four bags. I contacted
the appropriate Councillor on this matter but have not
yet had any response, so, I have to either make an extra
journey (more pollution), place it into my bin in small
quantities or, become a flytipper. I have yet to find out
which. While no response is forthcoming on any and all
matters shows that they are at a loss find any factual
answers and to justfify their positions (and pensions)
and, one of the reasons for such high rates.
The above would convey the calibre of those in office and
the useless shower they are. We now find ourselves with a
police force which is on a par with the Council and is
also reluctant to correspond on matters of concern
although one must remember that they are both
"partners" in road safety and related areas.
They, as with the Council, expect the public to conform to
regulations and yet condone the use of covert camera
vehicles which are under their control and command. This
is no better than robbing drivers and not being
prosecuted for their actions. How do they expect any
respect from drivers when such actions are being
operated?
The Chief Constable stated that he was reducing his
traffic section ealier this year and in October again
stated that it was being reduced. This will soon put any
road policing into history and the reliance on mugging
will be the only form of any road policing left (carried
out by civillians with no one in total command). The
police are evasive on any matters put to them and many
have given unaccepatble answers to matters raised and
once again questions the calibre of those in office.
They are also implimenting lower speed limits without
considering any objections they receive. This is against
the law. I cannot conclude which are the worst between
the two but no doubt matters will only deteriorate and is
a reflection on those who profess to know better and have
all the answers. I advise all to access the Councils
papers on the Cabinet meetings held at Matlock and
extract just what is transpiring in Derbyshire. These can
be obtained at any library. Alienated
COUNCIL
DETERMINED TO DESTROY
Why is it, when anything is aesthetically
pleasing, Derby City Council has an overwhelming urge to
destroy it? After the arid appearance of the Market Place
with its ugly waterfall and even uglier Assembly Rooms
facade, it is a pleasure to come upon this pleasant
little oasis in the midst of all the chaos there is in
Derby city centre. I often used to sit there early on
summer mornings while waiting for a bus to work and
always found it a calm and peaceful spot.
And let us not forget what it replaced. Derby citizens
and visitors suffered the "hole in the ground"
eyesore for an unacceptable length of time. Who is to say
that this arts centre will not go the same way as
whatever building it was, that was aborted before it was
hardly begun and left Derby ratepayers, no doubt, with
the task of footing the bill for the filling in of the
underpass and the clearance of the site?
Since the 1970s I have watched my home town battered and
demolished as if a horde of vandals had descended upon
it. And while it is too late for all those lovely old
buildings that have been destroyed in the name of
progress, I urge you to use your influence to protect
something that replaced ugliness and is well worth
preserving. S A Bostock
QUAD
NOT NEEDED
What does the city council think it is playing
at in even considering spending millions on something
that the public doesn't want to see? I am, of course,
talking about Quad. Not only is the design a joke but
also it will apparently be painted in garish colours to
make it stick out even more like a proverbial sore thumb.
The whole sorry package is then to be dumped on to the
lovely green and open memorial gardens.
Personally I would prefer to see the "hole in the
ground" back. But then, when you see the fountain in
the Market Place and the car park on Traffic Street, you
realise that the council does have an unfortunate habit
of getting things desperately wrong. I personally think
money would be better spent on more public lavatories
(no, not the waterfall).
The city needs many more to cope with the ever increasing
proliferation of pubs and clubs, and ones that remain
open 24 hours seven days a week and are cleaned and
policed regularly. Derby really doesn't want this
unnecessary monstrosity called Quad. Jon Bate
NO SOLUTION
Last summer resident of New Zealand Square had
problems with groups of teenagers shouting late at night,
jumping in people's hedges, telling younger children who
live on the square that they couldn't play, and being
rude to a few of the very elderly residents. After months
of diary sheets and community watch visits the council
came up with a solution for our problems. A youth worker
for the area? a community centre? No.... A "No ball
game" sign. The teenagers are obviously terrified by
this and have no alternative but to uproot it whilst
playing football, and then put it back when they have
done.
Over the last couple of weeks the youngsters are back.
One evening they were shouting until 10.30pm. This is a
school night and they should be at home and not out
waking younger children. Another evening at about 5pm we
had 22 of them playing football and swearing at the
younger children. When I called Mackworth Housing Office
they said we need to fill in more diary sheets, but
myself and three other neighbours do not want any more
diary sheets. It took months last year to get the problem
resolved and we don't want the same thing now.
A community watch van came out and he had to call the
police as the teenagers were swearing and spitting at him
and rocking his van. The sad fact is, there is nothing
for these children to do. We have no community centre or
youth club. If we lived in Normanton or Osmaston we would
be better off, these areas get lots of funding and get
regenerated all the time. What do we get? I have been
told that they are going to re-cement the "No ball
game" sign. So end of problem then? I think not! Anon
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