Gloucester Disabled Access Group public meeting.

I put this here as a place to put it, but also, because seeing a reply might prompt guests to view the topic again, to see what the reply is...

@jendallimore 'anyone can report a pot hole on county council website... As you have done many times for Podsmead on various issues- thx :-)'

I have certainly had my own 'achievements' in getting problems dealt with, in Podsmead and elsewhere. I've also had my failures because, while I finally persuaded the city council and Amey to admit they were responsible for maintenance of the 'street' lights between Asda on Bruton Way and its car park and fix three of them, after a year of darkness, the streetlight next to the entrance to Widden School remains broken for just as long, despite the council being told last year. Ditto for the two light in the alley leading to Bruton Way at the bottom of the car park.

I don't think of that as just my failure, though, so much as the failure, or refusal, of local city councillors, and cabinet members with responsibility for these issues, to support my efforts. I suspect, though, that this is a consequence of the penny-pinching attitude of the Tory-led council. I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if council employees had been told (entirely by word of mouth, of course, with no incriminating paper-trail) that if they created more costs for the council by reporting broken lights, dodgy kerbs, broken bollards and puddles in the road, or any other costly problems, they'd be moved to the head of the queue for the next series of redundancies. So why wouldn't those councillors be just as reluctant to do what they're pressuring council workers NOT to do?

So don't you worry about that pothole, or the damaged Bowly Road sign, or that few, if any, of your residents have more interest in their community than I do, a couple of miles away. You certainly shouldn't take note of the number of non-functioning street lights in Podsmead after dark, and tell Amey to get their butts in gear and fix them. If there's one thing city councillors ARE prepared to spend money on, it's laurels, given how fond they seem to be of sitting on them.

www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1so0lr1