Local councils - help with a project

to help me with a study project can you list 1 good thing and 1 bad thing about your local authority...anything from dog catchers to web sites.

many thanks
fergalk
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Comments

  • The libraries are great and they open on Sundays but the streets are filthy.

    And our Council tax went up by 30% this year (and it was NOT Ken's fault) and they take AGES to clear abandoned vehicles and fly tipping and they waste too much money on going for things like "City Status" (this is Croydon for God's sake) and .......no, I'll stop now. You do ask for only one of each after all. I'd take the first sentence as my answer and ignore my rant if I were you.

    Other good things - we have trams and a great country show in August.
  • Good thing- brilliant on re-cycling and have been for ages- we have green bin collections- however they do miss which pisses me off as I end up with a mountain of cardboard, newspaper and tins in my hallway.

    Bad- Excuse me but what is a Greenbelt- they seem to think it's a building space for hideous orange houses- when the rest are in stone and "light industrial units" just how many does Morley need?
  • Good thing: it's sounds really minor but when the street lights fail, they're onto it immediately
    Bad thing: schools - but then this is poor old Haringey, and they have lots to cope with.
  • I will elaborate on the recycling as they have paint repositories where it can be re-used by community groups, a replay scrap store where by products/waste is sorted for use by schols etc and two groups that collect your old furniture, tart it up and give to people who need it. Fantastic.
  • (Don't get me started on twinning- "where shall we twin ourselves with, no not somewhere that resembles our town that would be depressing- what about somewhere pretty- in a wine region, we can charter a gravy train")
  • I struggle to think of 1 good thing, lots and lots of bad ones, possibilly planning being the worst ie, resurface a road then dig it up 4 weeks latter to lay mains electrical cables.
  • They do keep my town quite clean & tidy which is good.

    They waste lots of money on traffic carming & road improvements only it's not better it's a lot worse! I don't think the roads department can drive!

    Worst of all the promanade has been coverd in pebbles from the beach all winter. It upsets my training route so that I can not time my running properly.
  • Get on to them Big Tim- give them a break down of all your splits pre and post pebbles- they'll clear them up in no time just to stop you contacting them again.
  • Perhaps I will!
    I'll say Monique say's if you don't she'll.................
  • If I dump a sofa outside my house and call them up the council will quite happily collect it.

    If someone dumps a sofa on the pavement, road or even the council estate outside my house the council will quite happily collect it.

    When I ring up and tell them someone else has dumped a sofa on the drive outside my house they tell me they can't move it and I have to pay to have it privately removed.

    So, I, the tax payer have to pay to have it removed privately whereas those opposite who don't pay tax get it moved for free!

    Which means I always have to lie and say 'I did it' or I have to move it to the middle of the pavement.

    (oh yes, it's Southwark by the way)

    Grrrrrrr....as you can see I'm a bit wound up by this one as I've so far had to claim to have dumped 2 sofas, 3 mattresses, 1 headboard, 1 sink and a wardrobe!

    ...AND when you write to your local councillors about it (all 3 of them) only one of them manages to reply but unfortunately 6 months later he has forgotten! Marvellous!

    Good thing...there is always someone out collecting the litter off the pavements every morning!
  • Good thing the flower displays in tubs and on traffic islands.

    Bad thing the traffic calming measures on one of the near by roads. I don't totally disagree with traffic calming measures but they have tried to use every known method known to man/woman and its only a short road. I'm sure I worry about looking at what's comeing up next instead of looking to see if a child is going to run into the road.
  • good thing - kerb side recycling from ressidential adresses.

    Bad thing - absolutly no recycling from trade premises even though the same recycling truck picks up from the ressidential bins within 2 foot of my trade bins.
  • That's very silly PM
  • I meant the council- not you.
  • Silly, that's the council.

    I've spoken to them about it on a number of occasions and because I pay for trade refuse separately from the rates they think I'm just trying to get my refuse bill down. i told I'd continue to pay the same for my trade collection if they could just take the plastic and card as we have loads of it in the bins. They said no as the recycle team are only paid to collect from ressidential bins.

    The bottom line is, government has set targets for councils to recycle ressidential waste not trade so untill the goverment changes it's policy on rycycling trade waste I just have watch all the rcycleables going off to the landfill.
  • That's got me started now.Moving on from refuse collection a bit.
    Basicaly local councils are just jobsworths. The staff sit there from 9-5 and when they leave at 5 they don't care about what they've done at work or how their actions or decisions have affected real peoples lives.
    One of the b*st*rds at my local council even had me arested last year.
  • Croydon has a country show??

    a) I've lived around there all my life and never knew and
    b) It's not in the country!!
  • Good thing - keen on biligualism (except when it comes to teaching maths and science in Welsh medium secondary schools)
    Bad thing - the council tax has gone up yet again and services haven't improved.
  • Pizza man,

    I have to agree with you!
  • SmitchSmitch ✭✭✭
    Environmental Health is brill. Excellent helpful officers, always willing to give advice or lend a hand.
  • They're building a new swimming pool

    The project has slipped a year
  • SmitchSmitch ✭✭✭
    er, yes Pizza man. How could you tell??!
  • Bad Thing : Council tax went up by 18% this year

    Good Thing : I got a personal, polite, sympathetic response very quickly from the Chief Treasurer when I sent off an email rant about the increase. And the bin men will take absolutley anything you leave out and will even empty your bin cupboard for you if you forget to put your bags out.
  • TmapTmap ✭✭✭
    Kingston-upon-Thames

    Good thing: erm, rubbish collection is OK, and recycling is (slowly) catching on.

    Bad thing: what made them think that, given a large piece of land near the town centre, the thing we would most benefit from was yet another bloody Sainsburys?

  • MinksMinks ✭✭✭
    Good things - well-maintained flower beds, grass verges kept trimmed, good refuse collection.

    Bad things - Massive Council Tax increase (with no evidence of any additional/improved services for the extra money!) Recycling facilities are not emptied often enough, which means people just leave their recycling in plastic bags on the pavement = mess (especially if it's wet and windy). Awful road surfaces.

    (Enfield BTW)
  • Toomuch, I am a Kingstonian too!

    Rubbish collection is good, council tax is a bit cheeky, compared to Wandsworth.

    That bloody Sainsbury's is my local, and the Esporta gym upstairs has a decent size pool.
  • Go-KLGo-KL ✭✭✭
    Coventry City Council:
    Good Thing: Last year they put up locked fences in the alleyways that run through the backs of our houses to stop kids and thieves from walking through them.
    Bad Thing: They have never got around to giving keys to the residents to unlock the gates...
  • Oxford city council:

    good - nothing particular springs to mind, which means there must be loads of good things.

    bad - wasting money on perpetual road works on a pedestrianised road (Cornmarket Street) because the previous repairs cracked on the first day people were allowed to walk on them again. Also, we have some of the worst sink estates around. And don't get me started on the junkies and theft - but still, don't know whether this is within the council's juristiction.
  • Good Thing , they upgraded a path to be a nice cycle / path

    bad thing ,local pool has been closed for 6 months , and counting
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