Hello, Gareth! Sensible as always, and back again! Will you be offering signed copies of your book to forum followers?Builders working out of hours around here are very common, virtually guaranteed. They appear to know that they can get away with it because they know the loop holes and happily brag about them. It is very insulting when you actually go and talk to the workers who are working out of hours, like on a sunny Sunday, or bank holiday, and then find that they can't speak English... well they know enough English to say that they can't speak English. Some even know enough to make threats, which doesn't help community life. Quite a few people won't even say a word to challenge them, because the actual act of making the noise and the number of the workers on the site, is a threat in itself?What a silly state of affairs when asking the Council for their support, you have to make a complaint by filling in a form and detailing the noise. You have to wait for the form to be sent to you, then fill it in over a period of time. Bit of an unworkable joke really. Calls for some out of out of box thinking to actually tackle the issue if anyone is actually bothered about tackling it, of course. Comes under ENFORCEMENT - doesn't it?Funny thing about all this building work. Went out for an evening stroll a couple of weeks ago and wandering around the corner, a paving slab which I have often pondered over, is smashed. Says on it ABERDEEN (so it comes from strong stock, it does) NON-SLIP ADAMANT. It has probably been there since the pavements were laid? well, that is what I have pondered. All these years sat on its own, with those words of wisdom printed across it, and now it is on its way to the paving slab graveyard, to be replaced by tarmac, at some point.But .. oh no, that wasn't the end of it - now you kind've know what I am going to say now, don't you? - the whole run of slabs had been smashed - and a short distance away BUILDING WORK! SKIPS! DELIVERY LORRIES! oops, sorry, I am shouting, but you get the gist?Funnily enough, the workmen replacement people were in the locality and had to re-lay the driveway crossover at this development (somebody must have noticed that it was all a bit damaged) but that new bit of cement appears to have been cracked since...? Sorry (yawn) if I am repeating myself, chaps, but isn't it about time this subject was actually tackled at source? Living in a constant building site is doing nothing for peoples morale, and the criticism aimed at the Council (not maintaining the pavements etc) is wrong, but right at the same time as they are charged with protecting public money, too, aren't they?More codswallop.
Sarah Felstead ● 7298d