Rubbish in our main street

And No, It's got nothing to do with "Your Move"

What message does this kind of thing give to our tourists?

Bt behaving irresponsibly?

Colin Hodgson, as our local councillor, could you do something to prevent a disaster?

(Deter parking like this and open up the route via Church Fields)

Why isn't our parking enforcement officer clamping down on this kind of thing?

(email sent to Colin)

If parking here is alright, why have we got double yellow lines?

This narrow stretch of road is one of the busiest in Ulverston.

It's used by many as a way of dodging the one way system.

Why do the people living in Church Walk, Town St, Ainsworth St, Beech Bank and Green Bank and those using the popular Church Walk School , put up with this?

Have they not considered what could happen if this particular intersection gets blocked?

That no ambulance or fire engine could reach them?

The influence of the media amongst other things on the mental health of the nation

Open letter to Professor John Ashton CBE

(who is the North West Regional Director Of Public Health and Regional Medical Officer for the Department of Health. A specialist in psychiatry. . . )

"In the light of :

the recent coverage of the guy who killed himself in Rothbury (I've been avoiding watching it and don't know his name),

the media's part in emphasising the differences between Labour and the Coalition regarding how to deal with the economic crisis

the public's concept that there is such as thing as fairness in society

the increase in violence in society - illustrated by your call for polycarbonate glasses in pubs

the preoccupation of the public in exploring remote relationships as in Facebook and Forums where communicants avoid revealing their identity

the intense interest in Celebrities and programs like Big Brother and TV programmes where a few individuals are followed with great interest rather than spending the time getting to know people next door and down the street.

Are you not concerned that we have a mentally sick society with the increased potential of mob and individual violence that are becoming increasingly angry and acting in an irresponsible way - often fuelled by alcohol?

Added to this we have the added pressures of global warming, unemployment , deaths of soldiers in Afghanistan and the belief in the fantasy of romantic love and the perfect partner.

Are we not heading for horrendous mental problems in human relationships on a multitude of levels?

Geoff Dellow


Address The Coach House, Union Lane, Ulverston Cumbria LA12 7BU"

Sadly the email address I used has bounced - I'll try and find another - any suggestions.

I found his personal web site with a new email address also sent snail mail!

Wed 19th July, Prof Ashton has sent a message to say that he will reply to the above when he returns from his annual leave which he is about to take now.

What I look forward to are some insights as to what the way forward could be!

Who's had babies then

Haven't we seen Mom before?

Yes, that was in December.

Quick worker!

Warning to Driver for Dodd's Florist

You were seen driving down a steep road covered in ice whilst on your mobile phone. Previously you were also seen reversing up the road at a dangerous speed by someone else.

Please don't do it again as I often have my camera ready to film and will attempt to get a conviction of similar drivers in Ulverston. I only just missed one guy by a split second a year ago!

Is this acceptable?

We are pleased to welcome new management of a pub in the town. They seem to be making a go of it and I've received several good reports about it. Some of my friends use it regularly.

However they have chosen to park their commercial rubbish bin on the pavement at a place that is generally regarded as dangerous for pedestrians because the road is so narrow and there is considerable traffic..

The previous owners of the pub parked their bin in a recess on their own land without blocking the public footpath though I suspect this wouldn't have been popular with the fire service as it blocked an exit.

The present owners say they will have difficulty finding an alternative but surely that is their problem.

Yesterday when I found this bin crammed full to overflowing, I called in to talk to Sarah the manager - I talked to her previously by phone. I got the message that she was there but too busy to see me.

I agreed not to kick up a stink about this issue until the New Year but the present reaction is not promising.

What do people think?

Should we make a fuss about this?

If not - where do we draw the line of businesses encroaching on our safety and the appearance of the town?

Since posting the above, the bin has been full to overflowing several times; this suggests that they may be needing two large red bins soon. I gather they are picked up daily by Wicks who promise 100% recycling which is good.

"Oh No" - Illegal activities again

Local Government - this time SLDC - are winding me up a treat and I'm in great danger of turning criminal in frustration.

The locking up of the public toilets at dusk is driving me bonkers.

I past a man peeing beside someone's front door as I walked along Upper Brook Street.

"Do you really have to ?" received the rejoinder " I'm busting for a pee - where else can I go"

I had no reply.

I talked to someone yesterday who told me they had shit in the alleyway across from the toilet in The Gill. She had to clean it up herself.

The fair is in town and The Gill is milling with people - it's also the Lantern Procession - and the toilets are locked - with their lights on!

Do we have to revert to life in the middle ages.

Someone could easily nick the hasps on all the toilets in the town so that they can't be locked any more.

If that fails , I guess the next step is remove the gates themselves - not difficult!

Anyone who checks will find that the nuts on the ones in The Gill are only finger tight . . . . .

Roads becoming more dangerous

Hearing the welcome comeback of Woolworths - on the internet.

Should we be cutting back on our on line shopping?

Drivers of delivery vans tell me that they are witnessing a big increase in accidents.

Can we go back to the days of rail haulage and better still - the use of the canal.

The UK is just the wrong place to be using our roads more and more.

What can we do to lessen their use?

I 've not been thinking about this and will be cutting back on on-line shopping where possible if it involves the use of delivery vans. However the use of the post is a different matter isn't it, as movement by roads is better organised using large trucks and hence fewer vehicles.

Similar lines of thinking lead to buying local produce and a different charging structure in supermarkets where goods are priced depending on how far they've traveled to the store.

Health and Safety gone MAD

Sam Braken, Kendal Safety Officer for SLDC, has decreed that the bench that stands here for older people to wait for a taxi, should be removed.

Why?

Because someone bumped into it and complained.

Some Councillors to their credit have complained to the Market Manager , but will they have the perseverance to take it further or will they lie down and play dead?

SLDC have a record for being totally unreasonable regarding Health and Safety.

Any suggestion of a risk and they ban the activity.

This is totally different to Barrow Borough Council who have come to the view that people do not in fact sue and Councils do not lose cases.

Richard Hennah of Barrow has pioneered skateboarding in Barrow whereas Richard Foster of SLDC is overcautious. The latter will not allow kids to bring their boxes into parks to practice their skateboard tricks in case they hurt themselves.

What happens in Ulverston? - The kids are left to practice in potentially dangerous places like Car Parks and the parade on Central Drive, Croftlands.

It's been a real battle for this Health and Safety attitude to be resisted and a stronger stand needs to be made.

In praise of a bit of danger

Have we gone overboard with our Health and Safety?

Bearing in mind our love of festivals here in Ulverston, it's reassuring to read of a revolt against political correctness in Spain:

Spain overturns EU law to keep fiesta fires alight

"Spain's passion for pyrotechnics has led the government to overrule European Union safety legislation that would have taken the fire out of some of the country's best-known fiestas.

One month before the start of the country's most fire-obsessed fiesta, the Las Fallas of Valencia, the socialist government has introduced a parliamentary bill scrapping EU safety requirements, arguing that the directive would damage the country's cultural heritage."

Here in Ulverston bureaucrats tell us that we can't do some things because it could be dangerous and it's ridiculous. Kids on Croftlands are being held back by the bureaucratic system that SLDC Richard Foster operates:

What is needed is an official group to represent Croftlands and its children. Then they would have to listen.

The kids could then, perhaps, put together, as planned, a simple flat area of paving stones close to the site of the proposed MUGA in the centre of the playing field.

They would raise the hundred odd pounds themselves to buy the 20 plain paving stones by doing community work and 'build' the flat area of 30 ft by 4ft under the guidance of a local builder to get the surface as flat as possible. This then would establish a need and the kids would have ownership of their project and be more involved with the community.

The kids are all set to do the work and remove it if it doesn't work. It would do them the world of good to be allowed to do something for themselves.

I applied on their behalf last August to Richard Foster and he is still putting us off without a broad public consultation. We were told it would be considered at the same time as the Muga consulation but it was conveniently forgotten by Simon Hughes at the meeting in January. Maybe there's hope yet with another consulation to be held as stated by Mayor Janette Jenkinson at the last Town Council meeting.

No wonder young people get frustrated with the behaviour of adults.

Meanwhile they are told off for skateboarding around the shops on Central Drive.

"Where are we supposed to go?" they ask.

"Be patient. We must make sure you are kept safe" they are told.

"We must go through the local government procedures."

Meanwhile their hair is beginning to turn grey . . .


Barrow are so lucky to have Richard Hennah who takes a few risks and got extensive Skateboarding facilities in place some time ago.


Let's live a little, with a bit of danger ( ? )