AIC            This in Nottingham !

It is difficult to know what parts of the absurdity that is called "Nottingham" were planned, and which parts just happened.  Certainly Murphy must have had a hand in some of the present structure of this city.  I'm going to list a few of the "Nutty Nottingham" aspects of live up here to let the reader know what we suffer.

For a  start, who in their right mind would route one of the busiest roads in Nottingham through the middle of a housing estate that is populated mainly be elderly and infirm people.  The answer, of course, is Nottingham Council.  If the question was posed to one of the Council Officers you would probably get the standard Nottingham-answer "It was nothing to do with me".  That seems to be the standard reply to any question posed to the Council.

Many years ago "Nottingham" was called "Snottingham".  Perhaps they were as snotty a lot as they are now.  Is there something in the air or in the water that prepares a person for employment in Nottingham?

To give a flavour of the sort of way that Nottingham Council work I will relate a few things that have taken place since I sought refuge from a Heathrow flightpath in Hampton on Thames.  A bit over a year ago somebody in the Council heard that there were parking problems in the other half of the estate.  The principal road in that half of the estate is called 'Orston Drive'. It is a smallish road that runs parallel to the Ring Road.  None of the residents seemed to have heard of the parking problem, but the Council acted with alacrity as is their wont.  We assume that the principle is that "we must do something.  It doesn't matter whether the resulting chaos is worse than the original problem, we can't then be accused of ignoring the subject."  How they explain those subjects that they do ignore is as yet unknown.  So the Council put out a contract with a local firm to deliver leaflets to all houses on that half of the estate.  And, of course, a number of houses failed to receive the notice.  What was intended was that every house would get a small number of parking permits to allow people to park outside that house.  Additional permits could be purchased up to a specific number,

We have a fairly active Residents' Association and that body shouted about the absurdity of the scheme.  As I said earlier, a number of people are disabled and quite a few have carers and nurses visit every day; sometimes several times a day.  After spending a significant sum of money, the Council decided to abandon the whole idea.  But it helped spend some of the £1100 a year I contribute via Council Tax.

Another brilliant scheme that the Council dreamed up is still unresolved.  This estate is enclosed by a large crescent, and on the northern side there is a footpath that leads to a small road off the estate, that, in turn, leads to a road that lets a a traveller reach the large Co-op to the west of this part of the city.  A number of months ago a motor-cyclist was seen riding through the footpath.

This was a job for Superman!  Hey ho, the Council leapt into action.  They commissioned a firm from Sheffield to build and install a weird contraption that they know as an "MIB".  The 'motor-cycle inhibiting barrier' certainly does what the name suggests.  It not only inhibits motor cycles, it inhibits perambulators, double-child buggies, wheel chairs and my mobility scooter.  When challenged, a Council official said "none of the locals are complaining.  We don't know whether this is true because in other areas bald lies are told by Council Officials to excuse the inexcusable.  So, currently, if I want to go to the large Co-op. I have to allow another full mile to my journey in both directions,  Four hundred yards to the east away from my destination.  Two hundred yards to the north and another four hundred yards to the west in the direction that I wanted to go originally.  That's the start of my journey. On the way back I have to add the same additional mile to the journey.

I am currently researching if it is illegal to prevent a disabled person from going from point to point by a deliberate obstruction.  But should I find that it is, that will be yet another excuse for the Council to brief Counsel to make their activity as expensive as possible.  Watch this space.  Our MP May be of assistance, but I'm not counting on it.  I've had a post card from Westminster acknowledging my email on the subject.

For over two years were have been promised CCTV cameras to detect some of the loutish behaviour that Nottingham is renowned for.  This estate is low on the list of "problem" estates, but there is still some vandalism and other crime.  Several months ago local talent set fire to the Medical Centre and the practice was only able to continue by hiring Portacabins and siting them on the forecourt of the main building (When the Archbishop of Canterbury recently (Feb '08) talked about Sharia Law, a few hearts beat a little faster in the hope that Nottingham would adopt some of the Sharia penal methods.  But that, really, is too much to hope for as Central Government is dedicated to upholding the rights of the criminal ("you scratch my back").