Nanny is very concerned about keeping Britain clean and tidy, you only have to walk around some of her fine inner city areas (feel free to name and shame them) to see what a good job she has been doing!However, let us not dwell on the unfortunately large gap between Nanny's desires and her abilities.
In one particular case Nanny has been very very assertive indeed, as she does her best to protect a beach from litter.
Now, what sort of litter do you think that she was protecting it from?
Paper?
No!
Plastic bags?
No!
Empty cans of drink?
No!
I will tell you.....
Sand
Yes, that's right, sand!
Arthur Bulmer, a pensioner who lives near to the sea, had his seafront garden carpeted with sand the other week, as a result of storms driving the sand up from the beach.
Mr Bulmer decided to use his initiative, and shovel the sand into a wheelbarrow to take it back to the beach in several loads.
Can you guess what happened next?
Yes, that's right, he has been threatened by Nanny with prison or a £50K fine if he carries out his evil plan.
You see, Mr Bulmer lives in St Annes and Fylde Borough Council are particularly good friends of Nanny. Indeed it is sad to say, but local councils throughout the land are sucking up to Nanny in all sorts of nasty and unpleasant ways.
Can anyone really, in their heart of hearts, justify the need for local councils; when you consider how much they charge us in council tax, yet how little they actually do aside from preventing us from enjoying our lives freely?
Anyhoo, Fylde Borough Council told Mr Bulmer that if he moved the sand, it would be classified as fly-tipping; in addition to the threat of jail and a fine, they would also take his wheelbarrow away.
To be fair to Nanny's chums in the local council, their workmen have been slowly taking the sand away from public areas, but not from private areas such as Mr Bulmer's garden.
By the way, some seven tons of sand sat upon his lawn; it is not unreasonable that he wanted to move it.
A spokesman for Fylde Borough Council attempted to explain their stupidity:
"The sand is actually part of the Queen's Crown estate,
which owns most of the foreshore around our coasts.
This year has seen an exceptional problem with wind-blown sand.
We have been cleaning up since Christmas.
But the council has no responsibility to clear sand
or any other debris from private land.
The owner must do this."
He added that dumping "anything" on to the beach from a private garden constituted flytipping.
Unfortunately the "logic" of Nanny's mouthpiece kind of falls apart; for you see, Nanny's workmen have been scraping the sand off the public areas and dumping it back on the beach.
Mr Bulmer ended up paying £500 to some workmen to clear the sand away (I wonder where they put it?).
Feel free to write to Fylde Borough Council to let them know what you think of them via this link Listening@fylde.gov.uk
By the way, in case you would like to understand the structure of Fylde Borough Council may I direct you to this page on their website?
The Council Structure
I think that says it all!
As I understand the law, if anything from neighbouring property trespasses onto yours, they the neighbour is laible for the cost of correcting any damage. So the bill for removing the sand should be sent to the council. It's their own stupid fault that the bill is now £500 instead of zero.
ReplyDeleteThe ridiculous irony of all this? If the gentleman had actually TAKEN some sand from the beach to put on his garden, he'd have been done for theft!!!!
ReplyDeleteDo they grow decerebrated morons in vats, complete with little grey suits, to turn into council officials?
I sometimes pity elected councillors who have every attempt to better their constituents' lives thwarted by these over-paid, over-powerful, unnacountable little parasites.
Pete
If God built the earth in 6 days and Sand was part of the grand design, then the sand actually belongs to GOD and therefore to me and the rest of human kind and not the Queens Crown estate so it's ours to do with what we wish.The fact that the councils make rules where they have no right doesn't alter the fact that the sand is not theirs
ReplyDelete"Mr Bulmer ended up paying £500 to some workmen to clear the sand away (I wonder where they put it?)."
ReplyDeleteThe money or the sand?
Fylde Borough Council is actually a Tory council and very near bankrupt, it is danger of being swallowed up (can I say that on here) by the Blackpool and Preston, it actually covers some of the wealthiest parts of the North West nice place in fact
ReplyDeleteDear Webmaster
ReplyDeleteI have read your comments and I am concerned that you haven't taken on board all the facts on this issue, just read what the tabloids wrote! they are not exactly renowed for accuracy!
The main reason for not being allowed to tip sand back onto the beach in St annes is due to the fact that the entire stretch of Coastal Dunes are listed as SSSI sites. The delicate balance can quickly be destroyed when foreign materials are introduced to the dune system. Dog fouling is already playing a major part in undermining the St annes dune system.
The tipping of hundreds of tons of contaminated sand back onto the dune system would accelerate the brakdown of the dune structure. Hence DEFRA's and English Natures desire to protect the sites.
The Tory run Council are now looking for a way that sand can be collected and disposed of safely. Far from being a nanny state example, I would say that this is good environmental stewardship! Perhaps your readers now and the tabloids now knowing that the beach is a Site of Special Scientific Interest have a more balanced view?
PS the anonymous contributor also states that the Council is also bankrupt! I seriously urge them to check all the facts - perhaps the reason they have remained anonymous is that they have a political axe to grind rather than constructive observations!
Dear Mr Coombes,
ReplyDeleteAre you suggesting that the council was not threatening the householder at all would have been willing, as part of the preservation of the dunes, to remove and clean the sand before replacing it at a place from which, I assume from what you say, its loss could be classed as a form of ecological disaster?
If so that sounds grand!
I suggest you sack the incompetent from the media management department who failed to get the press recognize the magnanimity of your proposals.