The maintenance of the surface of the foorpath that runs along Church Pond is the responsibility of the Highways Department at the County Council.

As many people will be aware the work previously carried out to make the path safe, was substantially undone in the recent flooding.

Alan Kingston and Adrian Hardman were notified on the 9th of August via the following email:

Hi Alan,

Unfortunately the excellent improvements to the footpath surface have been undone by the recent severe weather, leaving the path in an unsafe condition and depositing a large quantity of stones in the Church grounds.

The recent torrential rainfall caused the level of the pond to rise and overflow, despite the recent addition of a second overflow pipe.
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Previously an overflow of this size would have simply flowed across the path and down into our property, re-joining the natural flow of the stream.

However, on this occasion, the wooden planks that were put in along the boundary to hold the stones in place acted as a barrier and re-routed the water down the path towards the Church, lifting the stones as it went.

As you are aware, the piece of land between Church House and Church Pond, where the footpath runs, is unregistered and does not belong to us and in any event, being a public footpath, the duty to maintain it in a safe condition rests with the Council.

Currently I would suggest that it is more dangerous than it was prior to the recent work being carried out.

Regards,

James Hickman
Church House
Elmley Castle

As yet there has been no response.

If you want to chase them up click the links below and refer to footpath EC540

Alan Kingston
Adrian Hardman

I have started a new section for these questions so they don’t get lost in the irrelevant, but hopefully entertaining, joust between myself and Anna on the previous article.

Points and Comments from Brian Druce:

1. Park Cottage used to be collected on a Thursday in common with the rest of the village (with a few exceptions).  Now we are told that our day will be Wednesday; with Parkwood changed to Friday.  No alteration permitted; it is all to do with postcodes.  On how many days of the week will bin lorries be thundering up the street?
2. Previously there were up to three lorries each Thursday, i.e. Week A was brown bins/purple bags/black bags.  Week B was green bottle box/clear bags/black bags.
3. Will Hill Lane have wheelie bins?  Is there now a suitable vehicle to go up there?  Or will the residents be exempt?
4. We are told “no dirty foil” but no aluminium foil either.  This is unclear.

How are we to dispose of the new energy efficient bulbs when they wear out?  What about batteries from torches, radios etc?

5.   When the green bin is full, may the green glass collection box be used  as well?

FOOD WASTE.   The Council has provided  us with containers allowing us to dispose of 20+ litres per week!  We would have a job to eat that much in a fortnight.  As we have compost bins, access to a bonfire and neighbours with hungry animals, we expect our use of this box to be minimal.  What an astonishing indictment of our profligate Western society.

In 1960 Vance Packard published his book The Waste Makers.  His thesis that business was planning for obsolescence, in a systematic attempt to make us wasteful, has come entirely true.

As so often, society tries to cure the problem by tackling the symptoms and not the cause which I believe  is mainly

a.      Unbridled consumerism

b.     Convenience food

c.      The packaging industry.

Anyone who has been faced with, for example, one six inch nail in a blister pack, or a turnip individually shrink wrapped in high grade polythene, will understand what we have to deal with. The Victorian cottager only had to dispose of ashes, broken crockery, and unwanted bottles, which went into a pit at the end of his garden. No dustcarts and binmen in those (happier?) days!

I have now received some excellent clarification from Phil Merrick, Head of Community Services at Wychavon about the operation of the Bin Laws. (It almost restores my faith in local government!).

Here is a summary of the guidance:

1. You do not have to label wheelie bins with the labels provided at all, it is entirely optional.

2. You may leave your bins out the night before collection without fear of punishment.

3. You do not have to use the food waste caddy at all !  They are entirely optional. You are allowed to put food waste in the Grey Wheelie bin every week and ignore the food caddy entirely if you wish.

4. You will not be charged for replacing your bin unless it is lost or damaged repeatedly.

5. The Council are happy to offer telephone support to clarify if any specific item can be recycled or not.
(I still think the written guidance is full of holes and perhaps the Council could provide more extensive guidance on their website, that could be added to every time a question is asked)

6. The refuse & recycling crews who can sticker your bin do not have the power to issue fixed penalty fines. This can only be done by “Authorized Officers” of the Council, it is not automatic after any given number of “stickerings” and I am assured will only be used in “Extreme Cases”.

I think that if Mr Merrick had written the guidance that was published, many of the concerns raised could have been avoided.

The crazy government idea that not complying with refuse collection requirements is a criminal matter, remains absurd.

Having to rely on the common sense of the local authority to ignore the letter of the law is certainly not satisfactory, but as long as they do override stupid laws with common sense it looks like the worst case scenario will be avoided.

James