just called Hackney Council...

[classic33]

Jeez middle age set in early on this thread

Why do you say that?

 

[slowmotion]

DZ, you were dreaming. If you want to get back to reality, try ringing Lambeth.

 

[dellzeqq]

DZ, you were dreaming. If you want to get back to reality, try ringing Lambeth.

I do ring Lambeth from time to time, and it is a complete waste of effort - except for the Parks Department who are a dream to talk to, because they are both efficient and knowledgeable. For Highways I just go straight to the local Councillor.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I shouldn't make light of it, but some bloke got so cheesed off with one of our local councils he set fire to himself in reception.

 

[theclaud]

I shouldn't make light of it, but some bloke got so cheesed off with one of our local councils he set fire to himself in reception.

Blimey.

 

[Black Sheep]

It's a quiet backstreet with no through traffic.

I was burgled once so I don't like the idea of dark back yards for burglars to get to work in! (Or for drunken teens to pee in.)

it's dark out the back of my house, given that there is no roof on part of it, I've laid some obstacles to alert me to anyone's presence in the back yard...

 

[subaqua]

I shouldn't make light of it, but some bloke got so cheesed off with one of our local councils he set fire to himself in reception.

and not wanting to make further light of it.
If anybody tried that in LBWF you would burn for a while as they wouldn't pee on you if you were on fire

 

[threebikesmcginty]

it's dark out the back of my house, given that there is no roof on part of it, I've laid some obstacles to alert me to anyone's presence in the back yard...

 

[Brains]

I have to deal with 5 local councils on a regular basis.
Lewisham Council takes up more of my time and effort than the other four put together.

I've a long list of inefficiencies over the years but the classics are:

Two years (and counting) with scaffolding up over a property to replace the windows

Sending multiple voting cards to residents who had left over 8 years earlier, so a bunch of us went down and voted several times just to make the point.

We got bored of asking for parking spaces to be painted on the road, so we did it ourselves, took them five plus years to eventually do it properly

Blatent bribery and corruption in high places that was ignored serval times

 

[ColinJ]

it's dark out the back of my house, given that there is no roof on part of it, I've laid some obstacles to alert me to anyone's presence in the back yard...

I have a tiled kitchen floor and I always leave an Ikea fold-up wooden chair propped up inside my kitchen door. If a burglar came in by that door, the falling chair would make a loud noise as it hit the tiles, which would hopefully scare them off. If not, then it would at least alert me to their presence at which point I would leap out of bed and thud down the stairs one tread at a time and hitting each one with a metal bar I kept from an old sofa bed, and shouting in a very deep voice "Intruder - LEAVE NOW!!!" I think they would get the message ...

 

[davefb]

I have a tiled kitchen floor and I always leave an Ikea fold-up wooden chair propped up inside my kitchen door. If a burglar came in by that door, the falling chair would make a loud noise as it hit the tiles, which would hopefully scare them off. If not, then it would at least alert me to their presence at which point I would leap out of bed and thud down the stairs one tread at a time and hitting each one with a metal bar I kept from an old sofa bed, and shouting in a very deep voice "Intruder - LEAVE NOW!!!" I think they would get the message ...

obviously thats just a good guess any metal bar might be hanging about...

 

[Milo]

I suggest shouting by the power of grey skull! instead.

 

[simon.r]

You say that as if it is a bad thing. It sounds like heaven to me.

We had a couple of power cuts about 5 months ago, and loved the darkness. We usually have three street lights ruining our nights from the pavement outside our house (because we live on a corner rather than having much frontage!).

About a year ago the Parish Council here decided to turn all street lights (except those on some of the main roads) off between midnight and 5am. After much protesting from the locals we now have about 1/4 of the street lights left on between those hours.

It rarely impacted on me, as I'm either in bed or out of the area between midnight and 5am, but friends who were getting the late buses home did say it was a problem walking from the bus stop to their houses. One female friend who complained to the council was given advice to 'carry a torch and wear a hi-viz vest'. Not really what she wanted to hear as she felt wearing a hi-viz vest when clubbing in town may have cramped her style somewhat

 

[dellzeqq]

fairy lights

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Sending multiple voting cards to residents who had left over 8 years earlier, so a bunch of us went down and voted several times just to make the point.

I don't want to be too much of a dull dork, but you're confessing to electoral fraud, which as a former presiding officer I know is punishable by some surprisingly long prison sentences.