Wednesday 4 June 2008

Counterfeit green




















When WFM recently reported that counterfeit goods had been seized in a raid I naturally assumed that police had poured into the Town Hall and removed copies of the Council's Green Charter.

What is remarkable about this crap Council is that soon it will be announcing a strategy to combat climate change. This will no doubt merit a two page spread in WFM and a smiling pic of Cllr Clyde Loakes or Cllr Bob Belam. Yet this is a council which can’t even keep its pavements uncluttered and unobstructed.

Transport for London’s Walking Plan for London requires local authorities to

Carry out regular inspections of the highway to remove temporary obstructions to the footway e.g. advertising boards and display goods.

The Council’s own Green Charter asserts

We will improve the street environment for pedestrians by ensuring the provision of unobstructed and well protected footways.

But the Walking Plan and the Green Charter are bogus, worthless documents. They bear no relationship at all to the situation out there on the streets.

In reality a local business which blatantly obstructs the footway in a very visible and very prominent position will get away with it day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Like this car wash and tyre business on Forest Road (above), near Blackhorse Road tube station. A very wide pavement is made impassable for people with a mobility handicap and this crap Council couldn't give a toss.

Cross the road (no, don't - you'll get run over) and you'll find the pavement is also obstructed, in this instance by a wildly overgrown bush outside another business. Or is this what Councillor Bob Belam means when he says he wants to see a greener borough?