Jobsworths and bird tables!
There are three things that British people have a reputation for. Perhaps it's what put the "great" in Britain!
One is our love of birds, animals and wildlife.
Another is that we have allowed ourselves, and seem to be quite willing to be governed in every facet of our lives.
The third is that we have allowed a huge army of interfering busybodies, whether they be councillors, council officials or politicians, to poke their noses into every aspect of living.
All three of these come wonderfully into focus over Worthing council's ridiculous attitude over – of all things – a bird table!
Years ago, residents put a bird table nestling behind some bushes in Denton Gardens to attract wild birds to the attractive gardens.
Now council staff have taken it upon themselves to decide to remove the table? Why?
They say it's not residents' land to put a bird table on. In a statement, the council said: "It's about land ownership and to protect the council's assets. Unfortunately, the law forces us to do these things."
It may be that if an object is on land long enough it gains "squatters' rights" but is the council's heavy handedness really necessary?
It shouldn't be rocket science to find out who the owner/s of the bird table is and get them to sign a disclaimer.
All this makes me wonder whether council staff haven't enough work to occupy themselves.
Perhaps when they have time to worry about silly things like this their numbers should be reduced – and just think how much money we could save on council tax.
Jobsworths – have a look at the number of bird tables and bird boxes people have placed in Offington Cemetery, you could have a field-day there!
You can vote on this issue.
Do you think Worthing Borough Council is right in trying to remove the bird table from Denton Gardens?
Vote yes or no in the panel to the right hand side of the screen.
Click here to read the Worthing Herald's original story.
And jobsworths in police stations too!
Now let's look at the jobsworths within Sussex police (they're everywhere, aren't they!)
A story which hit the headlines last week was one which involved an Arundel man who owed a 20 fine.
He was arrested and taken to Chichester even though he offered to pay the money on the spot.
He was put in a cell overnight and the next morning was handcuffed, put in a police van under escort with two police officers and driven around 100 miles to Dover, where he paid the fine.
Then he was given a rail travel warrant to allow him to get back to Arundel.
The total cost of this fiasco was 442 which will be paid by you and me – Sussex tax payers.
He has since been given an apology and was told this should never have happened.
Apparently, the non-payment of fines is now dealt with in Dover (probably another of the government's wonderful plans to "streamline" the system supposedly to save money and it ends up costing more!).
Back to Sussex Police. When the jobsworth attitude comes in and people fail to use one iota of common sense, it shouldn't be tax payers who foot the bill for stupidity, but the jobsworths.
It's the people in charge of the station at Chichester who didn't use common sense, pick up a telephone and find out whether the fine could be paid locally who should pay the costs of this utter nonsense, which makes the police look so foolish.
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Weather for Worthing
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 12 C to 19 C
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