As you see from the picture above (click on it to enlarge) the situation outside the bookshop was pretty dire, I took the picture before I swept the pavement when opened this morning at 9.30.You would think this was something to do with poor road sweeping, but I heard the road sweeper this morning at about 7am.
What this is, is a case of domestic rubbish put out by people living in the multiple occupation buildings in this part of Ramsgate, then seagulled and in all honesty picked up usually pretty promptly by council workers, there are also sweepers working in the town centre during the day.
It is rather a case of the council putting a lot of resources into the problem but the end result not working too well.
Here in King Street the problem is made much more difficult because the pavements are literally falling apart, with lots of long term dirt engrained into to the slabs, so even just after they are swept they look pretty bad.
Nice to see you've taken up on the governments new big society challenge, if we all swept the pavement outside our properties think of the savings that could be made to offset the dire financial state inherited from the last government. Well done Michael, keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteSo, what happened to the seagull-proof bags. I understand the trial was a success, so why haven't they been rolled out to all streets where wheelie bins would be too overcrowding.
ReplyDeleteI believe this antiquated method of rubbish collection is responsible for the infestation of flies in the town, and probably many health problems.
Too many people in this country expect others to do the dirty work. Walking through one of the grassy squares last week in Westgate I saw litter all about and wondered why local residents didn't gang together to keep it clear. If I lived around one of these nice squares I'd be out there daily helping to keep things clear as I do outside my own house. Instead too many people in the UK, bought up on a culture that the State will do everything for them, leave it to others. The flower bed outside the station was vandalised too the other night and rubbish strewn about. Again if I was a trader I'd get others onboard to help look after the area, there are several stores in that immediate vicinity. I did pick up some rubbish on both occasions myself but was not in a position to clear it all myself.
ReplyDeleteHow many of our old photos of shops in Ramsgate show the shopkeeper outside with his broom ?!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous of 30 July 2010 21:57, it’s nice to see I’ve draw a modicum of support in my notion that if we all “did our bit” not only in sweeping pavements and picking up litter; but also in speaking to (re-educating) the culprits of littering, all of our towns and villages would be cleaner. The costs would be reduced & thereby potentially provide funding for improvements and community projects.
ReplyDeleteI agree with anonymous of 31 July 2010 09:44 and yes there are instances when we have clearly been let down by the town and district councils but there’s so much we should/ could do for ourselves rather than slating local government at every opportunity.
Interestingly I note today’s post is about WWII and shows a selection of local houses that were bombed, I wonder what blogs would have been posted if such a system had been available during the war?
My guess would be offers of assistance rather than the negativity often witnessed here!
21.57 All to often opening the shop involves scraping takeaways of the window and occasionally clearing up dog mess so only sweeping is fine although mostly I don’t need to as the road sweepers are pretty good in the centre of the town.
ReplyDeleteReadit I haven’t heard the results of the experimental use of these, although they are still being used where they were trailed with obvious good effect.
I am not sure if the problem people that have been injected into some of the town centre social housing recently from other parts of Thanet would bother to use them anyway.
Putting these problem people in the commercial centre, something that I have had confirmed by the local police, would seem to be counter productive, although I suppose it helps business in Westwood Cross, I am afraid my scepticism now has reached the point when who benefits is a question I ask.
9.44 the way things are looking it is probably the only solution.
11.17 I have had a look and can’t find any, if you have some please send them to me or drop into the shop and I will scan them and put them on the web so we can all appreciate them.
13.10 I should point out that the re-educating bit can cause an unpleasant reaction in some people and is best avoided in many cases.
But the underlying problem is the state of the pavement and road here, parts of the pavement are not only difficult to sweep but becoming dangerous to walk on.