If it's not Tesco it's the other lot of wankers, Como working for MacNiven and Cameron, working for Develica.
Half past seven this morning they started unloading paving slabs outside our house, using the back gate to the site, using heavy machinery.
There is a principle under English Law that people should be entitled to a quiet enjoyment of sunday. It is specifically against the Planning Consent to carry out building works on a Sunday (or overnight). Getting the matter resolved and stopped is difficult enough; if it is stopped, under pressure, there is no acknowledgement of the fact that people have had their lives disrupted, sometimes seriously so. I'm reluctant to use the word 'compensation' because it immediately gets dismissed as being 'money-grabbing' or 'part of the compensation culture'. But they cannot restore what they have stolen - peace, rest, sleep - so money acts as a proxy restitution. And more importantly, if they were required by law to pay an amount equivalent to the rental value of the property whose residents they have disturbed, this would act as a heavy disincentive to anti-social behaviour. (If it were a teenage hoodie, they would be ASBO'd: not so easy to ASBO smug white middle-class men for their anti-social behaviour which is worse than teenagers by a degree of magnitude). Enough compensation to pay for a two week holiday somewhere quiet and peaceful would be a small acknowledgement of the disturbance we have had to endure for a year.
There is another issue. Our area used to be plagued by prostitutes (and there are signs they are returning). In general, this just meant condoms littering the ground which are just unpleasant. Very occasionally we would realise that business was being conducted literally on our doorstep.
About five years ago the windows to my out house were smashed and broken into as a shelter for prostitute and punter; two years ago, when I was at the depth of my illness, sleeping all day and then unable to sleep at night, I was sitting on the sofa and heard a woman screaming as she was flung with considerable force against our front door, and a man's voice shouting angrily. We called the police, who agreed it was almost certainly prostitute and punter/pimp, and advised us if we ever hear such noises again to call them again.
What we have experienced recently is builders shouting ta all hours outside our house. If we followed the police advice to the letter, we should be calling them. Clearly common sense has to prevail; if they look builders, they almost certainly are builders, and thus, not a police matter. But at what point is my checking to see who they are, and asking them to move away, a breach of common sense. At what point am I endangering myself and my home by taking the common sense approach
Oh, and there is a crack in our front window. Naturally, I expect that to be replaced by the Como/MacNiven and Cameron/Develica...
Why don't you take the Arthur Dent approach and lie in front of the gates to stop them getting onto the site. Like to see them call the police and sy you are stopping their work on Sunday morning!
Who would the police lift?
Posted by: Campbell | Monday, 24 July 2006 at 00:21