There has been a spate of particularly brutal hedge trimming locally. The hedge in the second picture was at least four times the size and full of wildlife before it was decimated. It really doesn't seem necessary, especially as it lies between farmland and an area that is intended to attract wildlife. Next time I see them out and about with their brute of a tractor/trimmer, I shall glue myself to something in protest.
The town is currently in the process of pretty much doubling in size. Fields everywhere are being built upon. There is a lot of muttering, as you can imagine. The area set aside for wildlife is okay, if smaller than ideal. Around a quarter of the trees they added died, while a football pitch and another gravelled area added on to one of the housing estates has never been used, not even once. It is locked so children can't even access it to play informally. Views of the river have gone.
Then there was the furore over the bins and the dog poop bins, which honestly threatened to degenerate into civil unrest. Those living on the new estate were required to pay for the emptying and of course those without dogs were furious about it, despite knowing what they were signing up to when they bought. Then some people were putting the wrong things in the wrong bins which really upset some of the other people and some vitriolic notices appeared. Oh the petty joys of local politics.
In actual fact, very little of the town is ancient, so lots of the people who don't like the new build homes are living in fairly new build homes themselves. whilst muttering darkly about the paving over of the countryside. I am working very hard at not engaging with anything negative or stressful at the moment and putting the right things in the right bins so as not to attract any rage. Below the parapet you might say. Pretty much the way I run my whole life in fact. Melted into the background. Bertie and the middle child are similar. The moment a voice is raised even half a tone, they are suddenly not there any more. Works for us.
Lovely to see Bertie. Gorgeous as always. I hate those brutal hedge machine cutters too they are brutal and make the hedges look so ugly. Town planners are so short sighted if only they added all the necessary green spaces for everyone to share and enjoy…I feel your pain. Hopefully something will give soon. B x
ReplyDeleteGolly, that hedge trimming does look a bit brutal. Hopefully it will recover sufficiently before spring and the nesting season. I'm a 'head below the parapet' type myself. I may have a good old chunter to myself or R about stuff, but when it comes down to it I like a quiet, anonymous kind of life. Good luck finding any glue - I think most of it is in use on the M25! xx
ReplyDeleteLooks brutal but the reason that it's such a broad and full hedge is because it's been maintained. We took over some fields where the hedges had been neglected and had grown very straggly and full of gaps so that the only option was to coppice them - you can imagine the furore that caused with the locals! But now they've regrown, greened up and are looking strong. (Sorry, rant over)
ReplyDeleteHow awful that the children can't use the football pitch - sometimes you wonder what goes through the heads of those in officaldom.
I cringe when I see hedges that have been flailed like that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your tactic of Keeping a low profile as it works for me too. xx