Tidy up the borough (From Thurrock Gazette)

Tidy up the borough

8:54am Thursday 26th March 2009

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SPRING is upon us and a positive feel good factor is with us again.

Coke cans and bottles abound on our roundabouts, outside late-opening shops, and some even planted in our gardens and pavements by passers-by.

Every spare wall, fence or garage door is brightened with beautiful anonymous paintings, and strange monolithic writings.

Confetti, in the form of discarded chocolate wrappers, cigarette packs, packaging from takeaway meals, with their half-eaten contents strewn across the hills and valleys we call pavements, fills us all with the joys of living.

What wondrous sights to behold.

Why should we visit the Yorkshire Dales or the Welsh Mountains when we have our own beautifully decorated hills and valleys we call pavements?

Why should we travel afar to warily tread the fields of Yorkshire or Wales, avoiding cowpats?

Why bother to pick it up when we have some dog owners in our midst enabling us to have the same enjoyable pastime on our own doorstep.

I do also much enjoy stumbling over the metal stumps, with their razor-sharp edges, protruding to the heavens, that were left by the obviously untrained people who cut down old signposts. I thought the Council had a thing about H&S.

Perhaps it’s cheaper for the council to pay out compensation than to re-tarmac and level pavements, and properly remove metal posts.

Yes, Mr Hipsey, you are forever telling us what a wonderful place this Thurrock of ours is.

It was a joy recently walking on the pavement in Lampits Hill (one side only) with its new, smooth tarmac, with no fear of tripping every third step.

I marvelled at this in the glorious sunshine and wondered how many councillors live in this particular area, on this side of the road.

It appears to be the only complete piece of walkway fully re-covered in the borough May I suggest one good thing Mr Hipsey and his cronies could do? Get out, walk for only a couple of miles around the towns of Corringham and Stanford-le-Hope, and actually take a good look at the state of the pavements.

I do mean take their time and walk, not get out of the cars, take five steps to plant a tree, take a photograph of the wonderful event, then get back in to be taken to the next free lunch.

Since the advent of the devastation metered out to us by the digging up of the roads and pavements (and peoples own driveway accesses) by a well known TV company some 10-15 years ago, and obviously sanctioned by the council, nothing has been done in all this time to repair or improve them to make the place look tidier.

All we see is a patchwork of tarmac and cement infills everywhere.

Perhaps, Mr Hipsey, before you go, no doubt with a massive pay-off, compliments of us Council Tax payers, you could order your people to brighten up the whole borough by using different brightly coloured tarmac patches instead of the boring black.

It would then go with the painting culture we endure on the walls and fences. Why do we put up with this?

Does not part of our Council Taxes go towards repairs? 15 years waiting is quite long enough!

Why is there no redress on the Telewest contractor to repair the collapses of pavements and driveways, or do we have to just sit back and accept it, as always?

At the very least, if all our pavements were levelled and resurfaced, it would go some way to making the whole place look and feel a little better.

It would certainly be a start, and then perhaps everybody could have a pointer to once again take little pride in their community, and not litter the place up.

It’s all in the mind.

PS Sorry it's so long, but we have been a long time waiting for some action.

John Cogan Gardner Avenue Corringham

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