July 20, 2010

Please be ever so careful. Those toothbrush bristles might slash your throat.

'Don't cut the grass, it's dangerous' says council that stopped cutting grass
A council that stopped cutting grass banks to save money has told residents they should not do it themselves, in case they get hurt.

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council aims to save £30,000 a year by not cutting steeply-sloping banks.

But council tax payers in the West Midlands town say they have been ordered not to take matters into their own hands on health and safety grounds, even though the verges were turning into "tinderboxes" in the summer heat.

In March the council decided to stop cutting sloping banks borough-wide, meaning such verges have not been cut since last autumn.

Some 350 people from the town's Coldstream Drive area have now signed a petition asking the authority to cut the banks, which they say have become an "appalling mess", choked with litter and weeds.

Angela Davies, a lollipop lady, said: "The council has been cutting this verge for 47 years and there hasn't been an accident yet. I don't know why they think it's so dangerous.

"There is a steep bank outside the council offices and they manage to cut the grass there.
"It's health and safety gone mad."

Carol Weatherall, 48, a hypnotherapist, said neighbours had even bandied together to hire a contractor at a cost of £200 but they had to drop the idea after the council warned against it.

She said: "We want to cut it ourselves but the council have told us it's too dangerous.

"They are scared that we might fall over and sue them. We've even asked if we can pay someone else to do it but the story's the same.



Anonymous said...

I suspect this has nothing to do with any "elf and safety" rules and rather more to do with councils fearing litigation if someone does take on the job themselves and is hurt by being struck by a car or whatever. I believe the litigious society first appeared in the USA and we used to laugh our heads off - seeing fat Americans suing fast food outlets for making them overweight, and taking retailers to court for not making the warning signs big enough when they slipped on a wet floor! Now we are not laughing..... it is here and it cripples the country ........

Anyway - Cameron will have to get the lawyers under control if his "big society" idea is going to work! Let's see what happens!

And check out "Tabloid Watch" - this is a blog which critically analyses some of the "news reports" put out by certain elements of the British media.

Anonymous said...

Actually that report was from the Telegraph, which is normally right wing but is at least a newspaper ..... that surprises me .... I imagined it would be from another publication, hence the link to tabloid watch!!

LL said...

What happened to England?

Anonymous said...

LL, you ask, like I do most days .... "What happened to England?". What happened is what happened to your country and many others in the "western" world. People see an opportunity to make a quick buck from suing someone else, everyone becomes fearful of being sued, and nothing gets done by ordinary people. I honestly don't think this relates in any way to the old conservative vs liberal divide. I support the idea of society, community, all playing a part - the essence of the cooperative movement, which is supported by many left of centre. I am appalled by how different things are when I was a kid in the 70s, when everyone would just do what needed to be done. Something went horribly amiss in the UK the 1980s IMO, long before "New" Labour. You can guarantee people don't carry on like this in countries like India and China ..... which is one reason why they will be the 21st C leaders.

T. F. Stern said...

This from the country that got the Magna Carta signed...can you say wousified?

Opus #6 said...

We had bad wildfires here last year. Brush clearance is important.

Longhaired Conservative said...

Linked you.

Perpetua said...

Goats do a great job in these situations. In the Bay Area there is a herd of goats that the East Bay Regional Parks hires for cleaning out the grassy slopes.

WoFat said...

Them Poms get a little strange now and then.

banned said...

LL asks "what happened to England?"

This is where local councils ban hanging baskets outside residents homes 'in case' one drops on someones head; where Torbay Council employs someone to cut the spikey ends off palm trees to avoid poke-your-eye-out hazard; where the playing of conkers

is forbidden except when wearing safety goggles; where the perception that it is illegal to take photos of other people has taken hold even though it is not; it is where local councils snoop in the rubbish bins to assess the class and race of the occupants; where local councils routinely and illegally take fingerprints of schoolchildren; where you get fined more for dropping a cigarette end than for shoplifting; where you become liable for any slippage hazard should you opt to clear the snow outside your home and where the new Vetting And Barring Agency will vet 11 million adults who "seek to work with vulnerable people" on the basis that 'just because you were aquitted in Court does not mean that you did not do it'.

That is what happened to England and our shiney new Coalition isn't doing anything to reverse it.

The_Kid said...

Personally, I believe this is all about the money. The UK can't afford routine health care anymore and now it can't afford to cut the grass. That large turf equipment isn't cheap ya know.

No HC, No grass cutting, what';s next. My prediction is that there will be plenty of nexts.

Socialism falls under its own weight and this is what we see happening in the UK.

The last ones to see will no doubt be thee liberals, if they ever do. They've been in denial a long time.

Bloviating Zeppelin said...

How about an ACTUAL FRIGGIN' ADULT walks into the situation with a mower and just DOES IT HIMSELF?


Teresa said...

This is more evidence that socialism ascribes to the nonsensical.

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Nickie, it has the shades of the TRPA up here, doesn't it? They changed their tune after they almost lost all of the South Shore due to fire.

RG said...

As the Mexican Army and gangs fight in Nuevo Laredo heats up, Los Zetas gangs raid and take two Texas Ranches.

All I can say is these Bravos just f-ed up...

Los Zetas gang cross over, raid and take several Texas ranches.

UPDATE: Story is now 100% confirmed by second source within the Laredo Police Department


The W-Bar-E at this link will be keeping up with the details.

RG said...

Corrected link: