Wednesday 27 September 2017

High Fences Make Good Neighbours...

There is uproar in East Budleigh after permission to build a fence round a football pitch was granted by the Parish Council.
I get the feeling East Budleigh isn't a place that seems much uproar...
East Budleigh FC, who play in Division Two of the Devon & Exeter League - the 12th level of English football - have endured years of having games halted in order to clear up dog's mess from their pitch, which is on a section of public green space. The club have continually requested a barrier to be put up round the pitch in order to combat the issue, and the Parish Council have now agreed to it - much to the relief of groundsman Richard Slade.
Doesn't seem like the sort of issue that would be controversial, does it?
But the Friends of East Budleigh Recreation Ground have claimed the decision has divided the community and say they have been left outraged and bewildered by the decision.
'Divided the community'..? You mean, there are people who want footballers to be sliding around in dog poo?
They claim that hundreds of letters to the parish council have been sent by members of the group but they have been met with a wall of silence.
Welcome to councils everywhere.
But the Parish Council have decided as a collective group that they will not engage with the group as they consider them a hate group.
WTF?
Some of the councillors have been targeted with such abuse about the decision that they are no longer able to step foot in the local village pub.
Ah, bucolic village life!
Ray Marrs, from the Friends of East Budleigh Recreation Ground, said: “On behalf of residents of East Budleigh, we have become disillusioned by The Parish Council's actions that have directly resulted in setting one part of the community against the other.
“Frustrated by the Council's unwillingness to provide answers or even in some cases acknowledge numerous questions, letters, emails, phone calls an unprecedented number of residents, estimated at over 80 in total, gathered to seek clarification at the recent Parish Council meeting.
“We wanted to know how was it possible for councillors to have reached a decision to fence off our recreation ground based upon somebody's notion of dog fouling without any consultation or knowledge of the village?
'Somebody's notion'..? Are these loons claiming that there's not a problem? Reader, it appears the answer is 'Yes':
“The sensible and democratic approach, used by most other Councils, would have been to post a simple Notice of consultation. Views would have been expressed and a decision based upon consensus taken.
“The results may not have pleased everyone, but that's how democracy is supposed to work and I guarantee that the community would have readily accepted this.
“But the way it has been conducted has left the villagers outraged and totally bewildered about what is going on
“Lots of people use the field to walk their dogs on and none of us have ever noticed a problem with dog poo on the pitch at all.”
Hmmmm.....

It would appear the dogs of East Budleigh don't excrete. Or the footballers of East Budleigh mistake mud for dog poo.

Any other possible explanations?

7 comments:

Lord T said...

Who really cares about it. What I found interesting was the fact that those that made the decision are actually getting feedback. This should happen a lot more often and then we would see changes.

Bucko said...

"no longer able to step foot in the local village pub."

I would so love to be there when one of the councillors finally snaps and walks into the pub, smashes a bottle and shouts, "Come on Motherf%$£&%s!!!"

John M said...

Perhaps the footballers should all take a shit on the same ground, for the dog walkers to slither into...

Anonymous said...

I'm not quite sure who's side I'm on here. On the one hand, dog crap is a serious problem but my observations when using cycle paths suggest that the vast majority of dog walkers do pick up after their dogs, although there is still a minority that don't. I can see why the responsible dog walkers and non dog owning park users would be pretty pissed off with a big chunk of the park being fenced off and made unavailable to them, especially if the footballers are a minority.

Stonyground

Pcar said...

East Budleigh population

http://www.citypopulation.de/php/uk-england-southwestengland.php?cityid=E34000208

http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10070284/cube/TOT_POP

"...an unprecedented number of residents, estimated at over 80 in total..." 80 out of 580 >= age 15 is approx 13%

Thus, the usual small minority that oppose any change. Doubtless, many of them have personal issues with one or more of the power hungry Parish councillors.

Northish said...

Same problem on the local pitch here. Hundreds of acres of public woodland the dogs could shit in, but no, they are allowed to shit on the pitch and then some owners try to pick it up, leaving a smear or a full-on gateaux in the grass. Selfish cunts. They should send the team around to shit in the dog owners garden then pick it up with a plastic bag, because it works perfectly, doesn't it.

JuliaM said...

"This should happen a lot more often and then we would see changes."

Yes, we'd probably see changes to the opportunity to give feedback!

"I would so love to be there when one of the councillors finally snaps and walks into the pub, smashes a bottle and shouts, "Come on Motherf%$£&%s!!!""

Me too! :D

"Perhaps the footballers should all take a shit on the same ground, for the dog walkers to slither into..."

Now THAT'S an inspired form of protest!

"...especially if the footballers are a minority."

But denying the right to play football without risking their health seems a bit harsh? It's not like the dog walkers have no other recourse...

"Doubtless, many of them have personal issues with one or more of the power hungry Parish councillors."

Oh, these little village spats are often about something quite different to the purported grievance.

"They should send the team around to shit in the dog owners garden..."

I think that's even better than John M's suggestion!