News story: A lawn, a grandpa and jail time

[Lynda_2008]

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninter ... 847365.ece


I personally think that lawns are usually a ridiculous use of precious resources. This news article is about some really out of whack community priorities.


Lynda

[Thomzo]

Can you believe it? I know it looks a bit unsightly but surely the idea of being forced by law to use a sprinkler is completely ridiculous. I just hope the idea doesn't spread to this country.

Zoe

[Mainer in Exile]

I lived once in a managed community such as this. and was happy to leave it. The rules are designed to maintain the value of the homes, but in my mind having to live with the rules devalues the property. People buying homes in these communities sign away all their rights to the association that runs the place. Most of them want to live this way, those who don't are forced to move.

[Millymollymandy]

All I can say is - sod the lawn!!!

You have to understand English English for that!

[hetty]

There is a great follow up story though as local people who read the news report came out to help.

Susan

[Green Aura]

Maybe we should send these round to show them really what to do with their sodding lawns.

http://www.communityrootsboulder.com/

[Rod in Japan]

Land of the brave, home of the free.

[lsm1066]

I kind of know how this guy feels. Last year, about 4 months after we moved into our house and when the birds had only just finished nesting, we got a letter from Highways to say that our hedge was overgrown and we needed to trim it as it was encroaching on the road. Fair enough. We trimmed it (all 400 feet of it at 8 feet tall!)

Later on, I decided to Google our address, just to see what would come up. Imagine my surprise when I found us mentioned in the Parish Council minutes. Here's what happened.

1 - Someone went to the parish council to complain about our hedge
2 - The parish council discussed it at the next meeting and agreed that they would inspect it and the clerk should contact highways if necessary
3 - Presumably someone from the parish council came to look at the hedge and the clerk presumably contacted highways because
4 - Highways came out and inspected the hedge
5 - we got a letter from highways saying that they had inspected the hedge and that we had 14 days to trim it, otherwise they would do it for us, charge us for the work and add a nice fat fine on top.

The letter from highways arrived about 3 weeks after the parish council meeting at which it was discussed. The one crucial thing that was missing from the entire sordid mess was perhaps the most important one, which was that at no point did a single person knock on our door and mention it to us. They just went straight for the parish council and wasted who knows how much time and money. No wonder our pc precept went up by so much in the last council tax bill. And since the birds were still nesting, it was illegal to trim the hedge other than by hand anyway, which is an impossible task with that much hedge. It would be like painting the Forth Bridge!

Lynne