A bit council (Vol 6)
Discussion
hidetheelephants said:
nuyorican said:
Christ. Councils really do have money to burn don’t they. So this is what our astronomical bills get spent on. Is there any practical reason for doing this apart from petty vindictiveness.
I imagine they were given the option to pay the fee for a dropped kerb but refused. Given the impact on the property price people can be remarkably shortsighted.Mate of mine was having the road and pavement redone by council contractors, including digging up the curbs.
He went out every day to ask them if they needed a cup of tea, and then reminded them that there was a dropped curb outside his house.
Southerner said:
nuyorican said:
Christ. Councils really do have money to burn don’t they. So this is what our astronomical bills get spent on. Is there any practical reason for doing this apart from petty vindictiveness.
No I think the council are bang on! Why should a property owner be able to essentially steal a parking space without going through due process and, yes, paying whatever the fee is that everyone else who wishes to do so has to pay? It’s selfish tw@tishness of the highest order IMHO; sod em!Would that be the space that the homeowner probably uses?
119 said:
You think by installing a dropped kerb steals a parking space?
Would that be the space that the homeowner probably uses?
An ‘authorised’ dropped kerb will presumably come with appropriate road markings, and a general acceptance that you can’t park on the road there. That is what it is, the council have installed it and the cost has been paid. What I think is f**king cheeky is sticking your car in the front garden and then maintaining an expectation that nobody will park outside your house, despite there being no dropped kerb, no associated road markings and no costs of doing it properly having been paid. No doubt accompanied by the usual ebay “No Parking” signs and general hostility towards anyone who dares to disregard it. Would that be the space that the homeowner probably uses?
As for the idea that the homeowner usually parks outside their home, I assume you’ve never lived somewhere with woefully inadequate on-street parking? That is precisely why people try a cheeky ‘budget’ driveway conversion, and why the unauthorised denial of that parking space to everyone else is a bit of a p*sstake.
As soon as you apply to the council for a ‘dropped kerb’ you soon discover that it is officially known as a ‘crossover’. It is not just a matter of getting rid of an inconvenient bump up the kerbstone.
It costs thousands to do this, and not only for the physical labour and materials, but the searches that are made about the utilities that may be passing your house beneath the footpath, and if their conduits are robust enough to withstand vehicles driving over them. In my own case I recall they even contacted the utility companies for their future plans in the road. Both the town and county councils may become involved on matters of road safety and public amenity.
Driving merrily across the pavement may seem innocuous to some, but wait until you collapse a gas main or sewer pipe, and it won’t seem so funny having to fork out perhaps tens of thousands for the repair.
It costs thousands to do this, and not only for the physical labour and materials, but the searches that are made about the utilities that may be passing your house beneath the footpath, and if their conduits are robust enough to withstand vehicles driving over them. In my own case I recall they even contacted the utility companies for their future plans in the road. Both the town and county councils may become involved on matters of road safety and public amenity.
Driving merrily across the pavement may seem innocuous to some, but wait until you collapse a gas main or sewer pipe, and it won’t seem so funny having to fork out perhaps tens of thousands for the repair.
Roofless Toothless said:
As soon as you apply to the council for a ‘dropped kerb’ you soon discover that it is officially known as a ‘crossover’. It is not just a matter of getting rid of an inconvenient bump up the kerbstone.
It costs thousands to do this, and not only for the physical labour and materials, but the searches that are made about the utilities that may be passing your house beneath the footpath, and if their conduits are robust enough to withstand vehicles driving over them. In my own case I recall they even contacted the utility companies for their future plans in the road. Both the town and county councils may become involved on matters of road safety and public amenity.
Driving merrily across the pavement may seem innocuous to some, but wait until you collapse a gas main or sewer pipe, and it won’t seem so funny having to fork out perhaps tens of thousands for the repair.
I suspect they must build footpaths to a better standard than the roads around here. We had nearly a year of fully laden tipper trucks parking on them. Pavements are still fine but the access roads were mangled.It costs thousands to do this, and not only for the physical labour and materials, but the searches that are made about the utilities that may be passing your house beneath the footpath, and if their conduits are robust enough to withstand vehicles driving over them. In my own case I recall they even contacted the utility companies for their future plans in the road. Both the town and county councils may become involved on matters of road safety and public amenity.
Driving merrily across the pavement may seem innocuous to some, but wait until you collapse a gas main or sewer pipe, and it won’t seem so funny having to fork out perhaps tens of thousands for the repair.
Had to ask one of them to stop using our shared courtyard as a turning space. The 20mm sharp gravel was getting completely chewed up. He seemed genuinely surprised that this was a problem!
Southerner said:
No I think the council are bang on! Why should a property owner be able to essentially steal a parking space without going through due process and, yes, paying whatever the fee is that everyone else who wishes to do so has to pay? It’s selfish tw@tishness of the highest order IMHO; sod em!
How are they stealing a parking space? People can still park and block their drive unless there’s a dropped kerb. Unless I’m mistaken?So even more shortsighted by the homeowner.
Southerner said:
An ‘authorised’ dropped kerb will presumably come with appropriate road markings, and a general acceptance that you can’t park on the road there. That is what it is, the council have installed it and the cost has been paid. What I think is f**king cheeky is sticking your car in the front garden and then maintaining an expectation that nobody will park outside your house, despite there being no dropped kerb, no associated road markings and no costs of doing it properly having been paid. No doubt accompanied by the usual ebay “No Parking” signs and general hostility towards anyone who dares to disregard it.
As for the idea that the homeowner usually parks outside their home, I assume you’ve never lived somewhere with woefully inadequate on-street parking? That is precisely why people try a cheeky ‘budget’ driveway conversion, and why the unauthorised denial of that parking space to everyone else is a bit of a p*sstake.
Aye, fair enough actually. I hadn’t considered antisocial roasters who think they own the street. As for the idea that the homeowner usually parks outside their home, I assume you’ve never lived somewhere with woefully inadequate on-street parking? That is precisely why people try a cheeky ‘budget’ driveway conversion, and why the unauthorised denial of that parking space to everyone else is a bit of a p*sstake.
I’m not sticking up for the homeowners btw. You’re right, pure selfishness, f
k them. I’m more annoyed about councils wasting money.nuyorican said:
Southerner said:
No I think the council are bang on! Why should a property owner be able to essentially steal a parking space without going through due process and, yes, paying whatever the fee is that everyone else who wishes to do so has to pay? It’s selfish tw@tishness of the highest order IMHO; sod em!
How are they stealing a parking space? People can still park and block their drive unless there’s a dropped kerb. Unless I’m mistaken?So even more shortsighted by the homeowner.
Roofless Toothless said:
As soon as you apply to the council for a ‘dropped kerb’ you soon discover that it is officially known as a ‘crossover’. It is not just a matter of getting rid of an inconvenient bump up the kerbstone.
It costs thousands to do this, and not only for the physical labour and materials, but the searches that are made about the utilities that may be passing your house beneath the footpath, and if their conduits are robust enough to withstand vehicles driving over them. In my own case I recall they even contacted the utility companies for their future plans in the road. Both the town and county councils may become involved on matters of road safety and public amenity.
Driving merrily across the pavement may seem innocuous to some, but wait until you collapse a gas main or sewer pipe, and it won’t seem so funny having to fork out perhaps tens of thousands for the repair.
If the council do all of the leg work regarding utilities under the pavement then you have a very accommodating council. When I applied for my crossover I had to do all of that work myself and then submit all of the paperwork to the council with the application. The work for installing the crossover also had to be done by a contractor registered with the council with all of the appropriate liability insurance in case they screwed up any of the utilities. It had to constructed to the council specifications and the pavement (the crossover itself) had to be suitably reinforced. It was anything but straightforward and was most certainly not cheap.It costs thousands to do this, and not only for the physical labour and materials, but the searches that are made about the utilities that may be passing your house beneath the footpath, and if their conduits are robust enough to withstand vehicles driving over them. In my own case I recall they even contacted the utility companies for their future plans in the road. Both the town and county councils may become involved on matters of road safety and public amenity.
Driving merrily across the pavement may seem innocuous to some, but wait until you collapse a gas main or sewer pipe, and it won’t seem so funny having to fork out perhaps tens of thousands for the repair.
I can understand why people don't bother but yes, they will be in a world of hurt if there are problems later on.
My sister would do all the nice bits like the drive and lawn, but the dropped kerb? Na can still cope without that, besides there is never any money in the “boring pot” for things like that and tyres etc
I think a lot of people want stuff and settle for the minimum outlay as that’s best innit
That said, we had a house on an A road that didn’t have a drive, we installed the required turning for two cars and had to use the councils contractor for the kerb part, a load of traffic lights and all sorts of equipment was dropped off, but two fellas with a scabby old flat bed did the job without the lights, I’m sure it was in the region of 6k. Not small change, however I’d certainly not buy a house that had skimped on the bits you can see
I think a lot of people want stuff and settle for the minimum outlay as that’s best innit
That said, we had a house on an A road that didn’t have a drive, we installed the required turning for two cars and had to use the councils contractor for the kerb part, a load of traffic lights and all sorts of equipment was dropped off, but two fellas with a scabby old flat bed did the job without the lights, I’m sure it was in the region of 6k. Not small change, however I’d certainly not buy a house that had skimped on the bits you can see
Strangely Brown said:
Roofless Toothless said:
As soon as you apply to the council for a ‘dropped kerb’ you soon discover that it is officially known as a ‘crossover’. It is not just a matter of getting rid of an inconvenient bump up the kerbstone.
It costs thousands to do this, and not only for the physical labour and materials, but the searches that are made about the utilities that may be passing your house beneath the footpath, and if their conduits are robust enough to withstand vehicles driving over them. In my own case I recall they even contacted the utility companies for their future plans in the road. Both the town and county councils may become involved on matters of road safety and public amenity.
Driving merrily across the pavement may seem innocuous to some, but wait until you collapse a gas main or sewer pipe, and it won’t seem so funny having to fork out perhaps tens of thousands for the repair.
If the council do all of the leg work regarding utilities under the pavement then you have a very accommodating council. When I applied for my crossover I had to do all of that work myself and then submit all of the paperwork to the council with the application. The work for installing the crossover also had to be done by a contractor registered with the council with all of the appropriate liability insurance in case they screwed up any of the utilities. It had to constructed to the council specifications and the pavement (the crossover itself) had to be suitably reinforced. It was anything but straightforward and was most certainly not cheap.It costs thousands to do this, and not only for the physical labour and materials, but the searches that are made about the utilities that may be passing your house beneath the footpath, and if their conduits are robust enough to withstand vehicles driving over them. In my own case I recall they even contacted the utility companies for their future plans in the road. Both the town and county councils may become involved on matters of road safety and public amenity.
Driving merrily across the pavement may seem innocuous to some, but wait until you collapse a gas main or sewer pipe, and it won’t seem so funny having to fork out perhaps tens of thousands for the repair.
I can understand why people don't bother but yes, they will be in a world of hurt if there are problems later on.
Roofless Toothless said:
As soon as you apply to the council for a ‘dropped kerb’ you soon discover that it is officially known as a ‘crossover’. It is not just a matter of getting rid of an inconvenient bump up the kerbstone.
It costs thousands to do this, and not only for the physical labour and materials, but the searches that are made about the utilities that may be passing your house beneath the footpath, and if their conduits are robust enough to withstand vehicles driving over them. In my own case I recall they even contacted the utility companies for their future plans in the road. Both the town and county councils may become involved on matters of road safety and public amenity.
Driving merrily across the pavement may seem innocuous to some, but wait until you collapse a gas main or sewer pipe, and it won’t seem so funny having to fork out perhaps tens of thousands for the repair.
This is EXACTLY it. It costs thousands to do this, and not only for the physical labour and materials, but the searches that are made about the utilities that may be passing your house beneath the footpath, and if their conduits are robust enough to withstand vehicles driving over them. In my own case I recall they even contacted the utility companies for their future plans in the road. Both the town and county councils may become involved on matters of road safety and public amenity.
Driving merrily across the pavement may seem innocuous to some, but wait until you collapse a gas main or sewer pipe, and it won’t seem so funny having to fork out perhaps tens of thousands for the repair.
(Highways engineer who deals with this crap every day)
There are other issues too - road classification, visibility to/from hazards, removal of on-road parking availability, suitability of off-road parking area (if it's too small to realistically park a car/van), if the house already has an access (separate in and outs are generally refused), all sorts of things.
Roofless, I think you are in my area so you may well be familiar with this guidance: https://www.essexhighways.org/applications/vehicle...
In my experience, it's about £3k to install a dropped crossing, so really not very much in the grand scheme of things. Break a utility and it can easily run to 6 figures to repair. I've just "paid" £400k to BT to lower a chamber in a footway, for example.
Edited by Rusty Old-Banger on Wednesday 22 May 14:22
Tim Cognito said:
I may have a tip for avoiding council on holiday - if you are going to somewhere all inclusive, and alcohol is not important to you, pick a resort where alcohol is not included.
We're away at the moment and barely anything has registered on the council radar, compared to where we went last year which was a hot bed of activity. I've concluded the decisive factor is that drinks aren't included here.
Another is to go somewhere that does not cater/advertise to English tourists. We are off to Formentera next week for the third time, originally suggested to us by a Majorcan friend and guests mostly seem to be Spanish or Italian. There are a few English guests but because it doesn't seem to have made it onto Jet2's radar yet we have not yet witnessed any councilness on previous trips. We're away at the moment and barely anything has registered on the council radar, compared to where we went last year which was a hot bed of activity. I've concluded the decisive factor is that drinks aren't included here.
The Russians we came across in Tunisia probably 10 years ago now on the other hand gave a whole new meaning to Council!!
Rebew said:
Tim Cognito said:
I may have a tip for avoiding council on holiday - if you are going to somewhere all inclusive, and alcohol is not important to you, pick a resort where alcohol is not included.
We're away at the moment and barely anything has registered on the council radar, compared to where we went last year which was a hot bed of activity. I've concluded the decisive factor is that drinks aren't included here.
Another is to go somewhere that does not cater/advertise to English tourists. We are off to Formentera next week for the third time, originally suggested to us by a Majorcan friend and guests mostly seem to be Spanish or Italian. There are a few English guests but because it doesn't seem to have made it onto Jet2's radar yet we have not yet witnessed any councilness on previous trips. We're away at the moment and barely anything has registered on the council radar, compared to where we went last year which was a hot bed of activity. I've concluded the decisive factor is that drinks aren't included here.
The Russians we came across in Tunisia probably 10 years ago now on the other hand gave a whole new meaning to Council!!
Reagrding dropped kerbs, when I was young my Dad told me they used a big lorry to squash the kerb. Presumably health n safety has put a stop to that...
By the way, how do we shoe-horn the latest socio-econimic group into the thread title
‘working class, benefit class, criminal class, and/or underclass’.
By the way, how do we shoe-horn the latest socio-econimic group into the thread title
‘working class, benefit class, criminal class, and/or underclass’.
Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff