Cut-backs begin to bite
Discussion
bodhi said:
Only thing I can see that's been cut back is the OP's ability to create a readable post? Perhaps the odd space between the paragraphs may help?
Just a thought....
Others seem to have managed, perhaps your being a little OTT with your English headmaster attitude. Just a thought!Just a thought....
crankedup said:
Your right, I didn't really want to respond this morning TBH. But in fairness and in the interests of the debate here goes.
When the Government announced the cut backs I think we all understood why it is unavoidable, whatever your tie colour. I maintained at the outset it was too much too fast. However, that aside the Government were at pains to point out that front line services should be the last to suffer from the cuts, needless office work being the first. So my reason for posting is that I now have first hand knowledge of just how these cuts are affecting even front line services and I would consider it to be a reasonable debate point of some interest. Of course a political debate can be had alongside but I would hope that a practical example would have been of interest, and I note that some serious interest has been shown by some.
The cutbacks to 'front line services' are happening because the needless office workers are deciding to protect their jobs and are removing the easy targets. Seeing as the needless office workers are all Guardian readers, it also helps to harm the image of the nasty Tories. As before, public spending is still rising - which is utterly ridiculous. When the Government announced the cut backs I think we all understood why it is unavoidable, whatever your tie colour. I maintained at the outset it was too much too fast. However, that aside the Government were at pains to point out that front line services should be the last to suffer from the cuts, needless office work being the first. So my reason for posting is that I now have first hand knowledge of just how these cuts are affecting even front line services and I would consider it to be a reasonable debate point of some interest. Of course a political debate can be had alongside but I would hope that a practical example would have been of interest, and I note that some serious interest has been shown by some.
McWigglebum4th said:
crankedup said:
We had cause to call out the fire service Sunday afternoon, living rural we are dependant on private drainage with open and some piped water-courses. Long story short our friendly neighbour opposite has not maintained his pipe work which we depend upon to shift water away as designed to. His denial and intransigence led to water flooding the road and our garden, backing up septic tank. We spent hours on the telephone to all the various agencies asking for assistance, only the highways service came out to pump water off the road, they also dropped off some sandbags to us out of sympathy, not because of their obligations.
With water a few inches off our door thresholds we dialled for the fire service as last resort, a fire officer came out to inspect the situation. He told us that reluctantly they could not assist, our home had to be under four/six inches of water indoors before they could attend. However, the service could pump water to save the property flooding at a cost of five hundred pounds an hour! He estimated at least eight hours pumping required and water would most likely find its own level coming back as nowhere to pump to. Not strictly true as open watercourse nearby! The officer was very apologetic and slightly embarrassed, telling me its not what he or his fire officers joined the service to do, that is refuse to assist. Not his fault and I recognise his awkward situation.
Couldn't use the fire service pump because house insurance wouldn't accept claim without house being flooded. All this owing to one idiot who refused to acknowledge his legal and sensible obligation to clear his pipe. I had tried to clear his pipe and spent two days without success, just trying to help ourselves six weeks ago when much less severe weather caused an overflow due to this blocked pipe.
We are not the only ones affected, eventually the County Flood experts came out, they felt sorry for our adjacent neighbour who by now she had broken down in tears on the phone to them. They quickly established the obvious cause of the flooding and instructed the owner of blocked pipe to clear it pronto. Failure to maintain pipe in future will result in criminal prosecution. Bad feelings living here now and so we are selling up.
So if your going to suffer a flash-flood or such like your be fairly on your own, as we found out.
Rant over! Breathe. Cut-backs affect ALL services.
So do please tell me why the FIRE brigade should of pumped water out of your garden?With water a few inches off our door thresholds we dialled for the fire service as last resort, a fire officer came out to inspect the situation. He told us that reluctantly they could not assist, our home had to be under four/six inches of water indoors before they could attend. However, the service could pump water to save the property flooding at a cost of five hundred pounds an hour! He estimated at least eight hours pumping required and water would most likely find its own level coming back as nowhere to pump to. Not strictly true as open watercourse nearby! The officer was very apologetic and slightly embarrassed, telling me its not what he or his fire officers joined the service to do, that is refuse to assist. Not his fault and I recognise his awkward situation.
Couldn't use the fire service pump because house insurance wouldn't accept claim without house being flooded. All this owing to one idiot who refused to acknowledge his legal and sensible obligation to clear his pipe. I had tried to clear his pipe and spent two days without success, just trying to help ourselves six weeks ago when much less severe weather caused an overflow due to this blocked pipe.
We are not the only ones affected, eventually the County Flood experts came out, they felt sorry for our adjacent neighbour who by now she had broken down in tears on the phone to them. They quickly established the obvious cause of the flooding and instructed the owner of blocked pipe to clear it pronto. Failure to maintain pipe in future will result in criminal prosecution. Bad feelings living here now and so we are selling up.
So if your going to suffer a flash-flood or such like your be fairly on your own, as we found out.
Rant over! Breathe. Cut-backs affect ALL services.
I also live in a rural location and i also suffer from water pouring off the fields.
Though strangely enough my first line of defence isn't a telephone and an attitude that it is someone else's problem.
The first thing I normally reach for is a spade and i dig out the drainage ditches. A few times it has come within an inch of flooding the house at which point i used my pump to clear it and I used my digger to clear dig out a soakaway.
Am i doing it wrong?
Should i be calling the fire brigade?
And then moaning about the evil tories because i'm a useless idiot?
I pay taxes on my property for a level of service, the point of the post is to debate the level of service.
I didn't have a pump and TBH a domestic pump would have been of no use, the water was immense, the brigade office estimated 8 hours pump time with his emergency equipment.
Third, my lad was digging an emergency drain to try and get water away from house, but that meant digging a 70 meter trench at an increasing depth. Add to that we live in a rural surround, that is fields with a run off of water into said water course. We are talking a lot of water.
A soakaway?
this demonstrates that you have no idea of the situation we faced, and yet your keen to wade in with silly jibes. When I tell you that a gully pump sucked up 70,000 gallons over a 12 hour period and it made little impact I hope that gives some perspective.Was your last response your own or four year old son? Don't tell me it was your son.
Sounds like you need some contingency measures to stop this happening again.
How about digging some sort of sump at the lowest point and installing a high capacity submersible pump like this one? It will deal with over 6000gallons an hour as it arrives. It will at least slow down and may even stop the build up of water depending on the flow rate.
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/...
How about digging some sort of sump at the lowest point and installing a high capacity submersible pump like this one? It will deal with over 6000gallons an hour as it arrives. It will at least slow down and may even stop the build up of water depending on the flow rate.
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/...
crankedup said:
Lets begin by saying the fire service was my last desperate resort whilst we had be on the phone to ALL of available agencies for most of the day.
I pay taxes on my property for a level of service, the point of the post is to debate the level of service.
I didn't have a pump and TBH a domestic pump would have been of no use, the water was immense, the brigade office estimated 8 hours pump time with his emergency equipment.
Third, my lad was digging an emergency drain to try and get water away from house, but that meant digging a 70 meter trench at an increasing depth. Add to that we live in a rural surround, that is fields with a run off of water into said water course. We are talking a lot of water.
A soakaway? this demonstrates that you have no idea of the situation we faced, and yet your keen to wade in with silly jibes. When I tell you that a gully pump sucked up 70,000 gallons over a 12 hour period and it made little impact I hope that gives some perspective.
Was your last response your own or four year old son? Don't tell me it was your son.
So at least someone in your family had a good idea and was actually doing something instead of trying someone else to sort out your problem while blaming the evil toriesI pay taxes on my property for a level of service, the point of the post is to debate the level of service.
I didn't have a pump and TBH a domestic pump would have been of no use, the water was immense, the brigade office estimated 8 hours pump time with his emergency equipment.
Third, my lad was digging an emergency drain to try and get water away from house, but that meant digging a 70 meter trench at an increasing depth. Add to that we live in a rural surround, that is fields with a run off of water into said water course. We are talking a lot of water.
A soakaway?
this demonstrates that you have no idea of the situation we faced, and yet your keen to wade in with silly jibes. When I tell you that a gully pump sucked up 70,000 gallons over a 12 hour period and it made little impact I hope that gives some perspective.Was your last response your own or four year old son? Don't tell me it was your son.
If i was faced with a 70,000 gallons of water i would of phoned up a pump hire company and sorted myself out or i would of broken out the digger and dug a proper ditch.
But this is mere details as you have missed the point of its your problem so sort it out yourself not sit there going it government look at the cuts have you seen the cuts
sunbeam alpine said:
crankedup said:
When I tell you that a gully pump sucked up 70,000 gallons over a 12 hour period and it made little impact I hope that gives some perspective.
That's an impressive pump. Are you sure about that volume?Is reasonable for a portable
But i've worked with pumps that did that in 20 seconds but they weren't very portable
McWigglebum4th said:
sunbeam alpine said:
crankedup said:
When I tell you that a gully pump sucked up 70,000 gallons over a 12 hour period and it made little impact I hope that gives some perspective.
That's an impressive pump. Are you sure about that volume?Is reasonable for a portable
But i've worked with pumps that did that in 20 seconds but they weren't very portable
So the fire brigade won't clean up your mess because you called them, it's now the evil Tories fault?
Have you spoken to the neighbour about the drains before this happened?
At the end of this month, I will be losing one of my jobs due to cut backs, 2 months ago I was gold it was safe.
So I need to find a new job by the end of the month or I'll be in a bit of a financial pickle.
Tories fault? Not really, my local council are pulling the plug on one of the longest running support groups for young people with additional support needs, however they are happy to spend large sums on making huge mono block speed bumps in quiet estates and pointless sculptures.
Flooded land? Pah.
Have you spoken to the neighbour about the drains before this happened?
At the end of this month, I will be losing one of my jobs due to cut backs, 2 months ago I was gold it was safe.
So I need to find a new job by the end of the month or I'll be in a bit of a financial pickle.
Tories fault? Not really, my local council are pulling the plug on one of the longest running support groups for young people with additional support needs, however they are happy to spend large sums on making huge mono block speed bumps in quiet estates and pointless sculptures.
Flooded land? Pah.
McWigglebum4th said:
So do please tell me why the FIRE brigade should of pumped water out of your garden?
I also live in a rural location and i also suffer from water pouring off the fields.
Though strangely enough my first line of defence isn't a telephone and an attitude that it is someone else's problem.
The first thing I normally reach for is a spade and i dig out the drainage ditches. A few times it has come within an inch of flooding the house at which point i used my pump to clear it and I used my digger to clear dig out a soakaway.
Am i doing it wrong?
Should i be calling the fire brigade?
And then moaning about the evil tories because i'm a useless idiot?
Point of order: you spend more time than most around here moaning about the Tories, but presumably you'd assert that wasn't because you're a useless idiot? I also live in a rural location and i also suffer from water pouring off the fields.
Though strangely enough my first line of defence isn't a telephone and an attitude that it is someone else's problem.
The first thing I normally reach for is a spade and i dig out the drainage ditches. A few times it has come within an inch of flooding the house at which point i used my pump to clear it and I used my digger to clear dig out a soakaway.
Am i doing it wrong?
Should i be calling the fire brigade?
And then moaning about the evil tories because i'm a useless idiot?
eharding said:
Point of order: you spend more time than most around here moaning about the Tories, but presumably you'd assert that wasn't because you're a useless idiot?
Yes the tories are f
king useless but it isn't their fault it rains and people are too stupid/lazy/feckless to deal with itSpurred by this thread, I just tried to work out what difference three years of "savage cuts" have made to my life.
I can't think of anything tangible.
I get no benefits and use very few state services directly; basically I get my bins emptied. I don't get ill, cause fires or suffer the effects of crime. I don't need defending from foreign aggression, to the best of my knowlegde, I don't use public transport and I don't have kids that need educating.
If I'm honest, I've had a pretty good recession.
Before anyone tells me how rarely lucky I am, I'm still giving up about a third of my wages for the civil service to piss up the wall, so it's not all good.
But it's certainly no worse than it was under Winky.
I can't think of anything tangible.
I get no benefits and use very few state services directly; basically I get my bins emptied. I don't get ill, cause fires or suffer the effects of crime. I don't need defending from foreign aggression, to the best of my knowlegde, I don't use public transport and I don't have kids that need educating.
If I'm honest, I've had a pretty good recession.
Before anyone tells me how rarely lucky I am, I'm still giving up about a third of my wages for the civil service to piss up the wall, so it's not all good.
But it's certainly no worse than it was under Winky.
McWigglebum4th said:
eharding said:
Point of order: you spend more time than most around here moaning about the Tories, but presumably you'd assert that wasn't because you're a useless idiot?
Yes the tories are fking useless but it isn't their fault it rains and people are too stupid/lazy/feckless to deal with itJohnnytheboy said:
Spurred by this thread, I just tried to work out what difference three years of "savage cuts" have made to my life.
I can't think of anything tangible.
I get no benefits and use very few state services directly; basically I get my bins emptied. I don't get ill, cause fires or suffer the effects of crime. I don't need defending from foreign aggression, to the best of my knowlegde, I don't use public transport and I don't have kids that need educating.
If I'm honest, I've had a pretty good recession.
Before anyone tells me how rarely lucky I am, I'm still giving up about a third of my wages for the civil service to piss up the wall, so it's not all good.
But it's certainly no worse than it was under Winky.
Agreed.I can't think of anything tangible.
I get no benefits and use very few state services directly; basically I get my bins emptied. I don't get ill, cause fires or suffer the effects of crime. I don't need defending from foreign aggression, to the best of my knowlegde, I don't use public transport and I don't have kids that need educating.
If I'm honest, I've had a pretty good recession.
Before anyone tells me how rarely lucky I am, I'm still giving up about a third of my wages for the civil service to piss up the wall, so it's not all good.
But it's certainly no worse than it was under Winky.
The OP is a load of tripe and nothing whatsoever to do with these imagined "cuts' anyway.
crankedup said:
I pay taxes on my property for a level of service, the point of the post is to debate the level of service.
This is the bit I'm struggling to understand. Your difficulty, nasty as it was, has nothing to do with any agency that is suffering cuts. It is to do with your neighbour's actions, or lack thereof, so to my mind is a private matter that is probably best dealt with by your Solicitor. What you think the Fire Service, Environment Agency, Council or any other body should have done for you, baffles me. There is no debate on level of service to be had, because there is no level of service to be reasonably expected in the situation.eharding said:
Ahhh..I see. So, is it the Tories fault that they can't do all the Tory stuff they want to because they're stuck in a coalition with the stupid/lazy/feckless Lib Dems...or is that different?
Mean whileThe OP is moaning that it isn't his problem the problem lies elsewhere
dave_s13 said:
Couldn't you have just got dynarod (or simlar) out to clear whatever blockage had occured??
I could have done, I did try to clear the blockage myself 6 weeks back but failed. The pipe is running through my neighbours property, through the garden underneath their garage. I have since discovered that the exit pipe had been a problem for over twenty years through neglect of the owners maintenance responsibilities. They consistently have refused to clear the pipe telling various people 'its not our problem'. Its now come to a head as I was not prepared to take on others responsibilities. I decided that the Authorities had to step in and resolve a long running (good pun)problem that affected a number of properties in the location, including mine.
The Authorities have now issued a directive to the owners of this problem drain pipe, if they fail to keep it free of obstruction they will be prosecuted for criminal damage. I will be keeping a very close eye on the water levels for as long as I continue to live in my current home.
So I am content with the outcome having gone through recent stress and tensions owing to a extremely un-neighbourly neighbour.
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