Is this how a Tory council should interpret 'The Big Society'?

A couple who cleared rubbish and weeds from outside their home have been asked for a fee from the council for doing it. Tory-controlled Surrey County Council has told them they should either pay £78 for a licence to retrospectively get permission to do the work or return it to how they found it.

The couple had been unable to see traffic when driving out of their road because the weeds were so thick. Passengers waiting to catch the bus at the bus stop had to stand in the middle of the pavement or be attacked by thorns. The couple cleared the area and removed rubbish, which even included a car suspension.

In September 2011, the council wrote to the couple and told them not to do any more work on the land. After speaking to different people at the council, they were told they would have to pay for a licence: “If we don’t pay for doing all the work, then we are supposed to return it to its original state, so basically cover it in weeds and throw rubbish all over it.”

http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/s/2106339_nonsense_rules_slammed_after_weeds_cleared_up

Jobsworths!!!!! This couple should take it to court, make a media circus and fools out of the council

There are two sides to the tale. When the estate was built, the developer evidently "landscaped" street-corners with planted shrubs, but without providing for maintenance. Inevitably the borders to some houses became overgrown to the point where the properties behind were obscured from the road. Some residents liked the privacy, others didn't. The couple in the story who took it upon themselves to clear the small jungle in front of their property have been told by the Council that they are "cultivating" it, for which a licence is required.

So it's all a matter of semantics, innit? In their place I'd see whether the Council can be forced to maintain the land adjoining a public highway.

Is this Westminster Council’s idea of supporting ‘The Big Society’?   

'Social cleansing' of London's council estates sees Tories plan underground playground for children

From an article by Ros Wynne-Jones:-

"A few weeks ago I went to a public meeting at the heart of a sprawling 1950s council estate in the Pimlico area of Westminster. Families in the meeting at Churchill Gardens showed me an architect’s drawing that had an old people’s home on top of a huge section of the local primary school’s playground. A previous public meeting had been told the playground would move underground. Now, local Labour councillors have launched a petition to save it.

Churchill Gardens Academy supports many children with special needs. The school is one of Lord Nash’s academies, run by his Future Schools Trust. The former venture capitalist also happens to be the academies minister in the current Tory-led government. But when the school was recently acquired by Future, the council didn’t grant a large section of the playground to the school. It is that part that would be built on.

Churchill Gardens is one of the finest social housing estates in London. It pioneered 'district heating' and still has a heating tower that provides the estate’s heating and hot water. Built where the Blitz had levelled Victorian housing to rubble, it was made a conservation area in 1990.

Residents in Westminster lived through the Dame Shirley Porter scandal in the 1980s, when homeless shelters were sold, nurses and students forced out and social housing engineered to ensure a Conservative council victory. Now Westminster Council is saying that in light of residents’ protests, it is ‘pausing’ its plans for Churchill Gardens."

For the whole story:-
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/social-cleansing-londons-council-estates-4076556

Extract from School's H & S regulations

BASEMENT / BOILER ROOM
The basement/boiler room is a potentially dangerous place & therefore the Site Manager must;
ı Make sure no unauthorised persons are allowed to gain access to the basement.
ı Ensure that & the outer door is kept locked by the Site Manager at all times when not in use
ı Ensure that all fire doors in the basement are kept shut at all times.
ı Keep floors & corridors in the cellar dry & free from clutter & rubbish.
ı Ensure no combustible materials are kept in the cellar.
ı Not allow pupils or staff into the cellar without supervision.
ı Keep storage in good order & free from damage.
ı Turn off the lights when the basement is not in use.

A bit more planning required before moving underground at Churchill Gardens?

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/oxford-to-ban-all-petrol-and-diesel-vehicles-and-become-%e2%80%98world%e2%80%99s-first-zero-emissions-zone%e2%80%99/ar-AAtjjAQ?li=AAnZ9Ug&ocid=iehp

Supermarkets to organise horse-drawn wagon-train deliveries.

that sounds like an improvement, in some ways