MADNESS

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COMMON SENSE R.I.P.
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in out of the rain;

Why the early bird gets the worm;

Life isn't always fair;

Maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses, and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;

I Know My Rights

I Want It Now

Someone Else Is To Blame

I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing. Alienated

EXCLUDED FOR WEARING A CRUCIFIX
Pupil Sam Morris was excluded from Sinfin Community School after she refused to take off a crucifix necklace. Deputy head teacher Howard Jones said the school has a strict policy which bans most jewellery being worn, though Sikhs can wear the Kara bracelet. Mr Jones said the policy was to avoid accidents and prevent theft but Sam's mother, Debra Saunders, said she believed it was unfair that people of some religions are allowed to wear religious symbols, but others are not. She said, "Sam has worn this necklace for more than three years and it is of great sentimental value to her. No-one has told her to take it off before and she doesn't want to."

Mrs Saunders added that while her daughter did not regularly attend church, she thought it was wrong that Christians were not allowed to wear a symbol of their religion, such as a crucifix. A Derby City Council spokesman said, "It is lawful to ban crucifixes while allowing other religious symbols, but whether it is desirable is another matter." The school later said it would listen to individual requests for permission to wear such jewellery but denied this represented a change of policy. Mrs Saunders said she will be writing to the school's governors to ask their permission for Sam to wear the crucifix but head teacher Steve Monks said that governors had no intention of relaxing the rule.

He said, "We will give any requests due consideration but would appreciate those approaches in advance rather than pupils wearing jewellery and then having to be asked to remove it." City councillor Hardial Singh Dhamrait said that people should be able to wear religious symbols regardless of their faith and councillor Hardyal Dhindsa added, "Faith is a sensitive issue and this should be respected on an individual basis."

PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT
A property developer has accused Derby City Council of losing the letters of 12 residents supporting a plan to regenerate a piece of derelict wasteland. Clinton Bourke, of Derby developer Wheatcroft, made a planning application to build two shops on wasteland next to the Total Meridian service station, in Harvey Road, Allenton. Councillors turned down the application because the intended retail use did not comply with the council’s intended use for the land. The land has become an eyesore for local residents over a number of years and 14 of them claim to have written letters to the council backing the development.

But council planning officers maintain it has only received two of them. Mr Bourke believes that the council has overlooked the residents’ wishes. He has now vowed to allow the land to degenerate further in protest at the decision. Mr Bourke said, “It is not the first time I have been given incorrect information by the planning department. It is either deliberate or incompetence. I am now going to do nothing with the site. It can just sit there for another 10 years.” Councillors voted against the development on the grounds that it went against the city’s Local Plan.

The site is earmarked for employment and industrial use rather than retail. But Mr Bourke said, “They granted permission for the Lidl store and all the other retail on Normanton Road, which was contrary to the Local Plan.” The missing 12 letters may not have changed the verdict of the councillors, but Jackie Blaney, one of those whose letter did get through, nevertheless feels that the residents have been ignored. Mrs Blaney of nearby Wilkins Drive, said, “That site is a dirty, filthy eyesore. It’s a complete mess. I was told that it is down as employment land, but if you have two retail outlets you have got employment. Surely that is preferable to what we have now, nothing.”

John Stewart, council planning officer, said, “Fourteen letters may have been written, but they were not received.” He said that Mrs Blaney had been invited to speak on the subject, but had not responded soon enough to a letter of invitation to the meeting. Mrs Blaney claims that she never received a letter from the council informing her that the meeting was taking place. Councillor Sara Bolton, who voted against the development, said, “I have sympathy with Mr Bourke, but it is in conflict with the Local Plan. What is the point of a Local Plan if we don’t adhere to it?”

Mr Bourke, who purchased the 6,000sq ft site in 1997, said that there had been a complete lack of interest from industrialists because the area suffered from vandalism, burglary and car crime.

NOT ACCESSIBLE IF USED CORRECTLY
Derby residents cannot understand the logic behind the unusual design of plastic bags provided for recycling paper. Derby City Council has produced 150,000 bags which have been distributed to homes across the city that participate in the council's Rethink Recycling scheme. Residents thought there must have been a manufacturing error in the production of the bags when they realised that the handles with which to carry them were at the sealed bottom of the bags instead of at the top.

However, the city council confirmed that the bags were deliberately designed like this to make life easier for the binmen. Many residents feel the bags can become too heavy to carry without handles in the conventional position, particularly for elderly people who need to bend down to pick them up. The city council spent just under £1,000 producing the bags, which were sent to homes in Chellaston, Shelton Lock, Littleover, Mickleover, Allestree, Oakwood, Breadsall Hill Top, Chaddesden, Spondon and Alvaston.

City council spokeswoman Carol Mee said the bag design had come about following a request from binmen to make it easier to retrieve the bags after emptying them. She said, "The handle should not be accessible to the customer once the bag is full of paper, if used correctly." The reason the interests of binmen have been given priority over those of the residents is probably due to the council's concern that any refuse collector who suffered an injury handling a bag might be eligible for compensation the authority. So where would that leave a pensioner injured trying to shift a heavy bag without accessible handles?

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