7 March (Part 1) - Street clutter
I
lost an old friend last week, we were only on nodding terms as we passed in the
street but he provided a small diversion on the way to the station each morning.
And now he is gone. I took his photo only a week ago but by Thursday he had
disappeared leaving nothing but a cable tie around a lamp post. He’d had a good
life for a bus diversionary notice, it’s more than two years since Thames Water’s
activities occasioned his arrival. I expect a vandal had him or maybe a resident
who got fed up with his eternal presence flapping in the breeze.
I doubt the council had anything to do with it despite a couple of councillors passing by
fairly often; otherwise more than one nearby redundant notice may have got the
chop. Why can’t they take as much pride in their surroundings as they do
their personal bank accounts?
Did you know the council has a budget for ‘Street clutter’? Neither did I but
it gets a mention in the cabinet agenda for last Monday’s meeting. Unfortunately
it doesn’t say whether the £54,000 spent last year (£50k. next) is for
installing clutter or removing it. I doubt it is removing it or these two signs
would surely have gone long ago. For how long does a road junction remain new
anyway? Why does anyone need to be told for more than a few months? Locals find
out very quickly, they’ve been held up by the preceding road works so don’t need
to be told. Strangers to town don’t need telling because everything is new to
them. It’s probably ridiculous to put the signs up in the first place. It’s
definitely ridiculous to have them there for three years or more like these two.