Waseley

A percentage of pedestrians have always crossed the road with hardly a look. Probably exacerbated by mobile devices. Today I had to avoid two people who were looking at their phones when we were on the pavement. Obviously an issue but please don't play the 'poor' driver card, or complain about the long awaited presumed liability in the new Highway Code. Better to propose solutions rather than complain!

A few points to make after following this discussion. I've lived in and around the area for decades yet never seen or heard of antisocial behaviour in the park. Of course this doesn't mean it doesn't happen The thread is about the treatment of an individual rather than a general information point warning others. It is difficult to judge how much of this is parental anxieties. To be fair I am sure that they are particularly vulnerable. But I have come across many examples of parents wrapping their children in cotton wool I don't buy the reactionary stuff about the world getting more dangerous. There is a balance between protecting your children and teaching them to be assertive and independent. The posts about fight fire with fire only inflame situations and you lose all moral high ground.

Two words Trade Union.

Did the bird count, fun but down on birds. Pretty random, but no woodpecker. Dunnocks and long tailed tits this morning, and no corvids too. Your black headed bird us deffo a black cap. Females have a brown cap.

There will be a process they need to go through. My experiences of local authorities elsewhere in the country has been similar. You could argue that the police should be calling, in noisy parties. Something fairly common when I was younger. In fact a badge of honour if your party had the police knock on you door to tell you to turn down the volume. Expect that the police are no longer resourced to tackle such anti social behaviour

Rather nieve to say that politics has nothing to do with this. When the coalition came in it was known that technology had failed to reduce emissions of nitrogen dioxide. Similarly whilst particulate emissions had reduced with the adoption of particulate filters other sources, including wood burners, were becoming more dominant. The coalition could have picked up on Labour's proposals for a national framework of Low Emission Zones but preferred to kick this into the long grass and put the emphasis on local authorities whilst providing little leadership. As the process in Brussels takes forever this bought much time until the suprise loss in the Supreme Court. Go out to the outer boroughs where car is still king and you will see a dearth of 20 mph zones and cycle lanes. Those with longer memories will recall the outer boroughs quashing GLA's fare's fair cheap London public transport fares. Of course it is not simply Loony lefties vs prudent Tories and there are many in the public sector passionate about addressing air quality and climate change

It's OK ladies and gents. It's all the civil servants' fault. Those lazy good for nothing scroungers have seen Covid as a bonus as they no longer need to turn up to work. OK now the real story. They have been shrinking the Whitehall estate for years and greater connectivity had allowed staff to work from anywhere, including home. I expect that us similar to many other office based in the private sector. There will be a return to the right balance of office and remote working. Both old, because that is the way they've always done it, and the young who may need social interaction and get away from working from their bedrooms will want time in the office But hey ho, it detracts from the current mess.

Excellent post Zardvark, I hope others take note. My driving instructor told me to keep 2 metres from cyclists as they may wobble. Not the correct reason but the right rule, which has stayed with me for ever. A minority of motorists (similarly it is a minority of cyclists who do wrong things) don't give cyclists appropriate room. A larger number, maybe a majority, don't consider that cyclists have the same rights as road users. Greater kindness in sharing road space, would go a long way

Interesting point, going off on a tangent which deserves a separate thread ...competition and choice introduced by Thatcher leading to many travelling further for education. This has been exacerbated by the increasingly anxious middle class parents, those with the least to worry about (a radio 4 quote). I won't lob a grenade in and refer to individual schools.

There is a rational discussion about cycling, why some cycle on pavements and how this can best be discouraged. Sadly most comments are from those that don't like cyclists, and is rather reactionary. Most cyclists don't regularly ride on the pavement, don't jump lights, and have lights at night. There are many joys in cycling and other good reasons to cycle, health, convenience, cost, the environment. Some competent cyclists have no excuse, some less confident cyclists are worried about road safety, some are sticking up two fingers to society. Particularly frustrating are those parents with children competent enough to cycle on the road. Driver behaviour has much to do with this and there is a need both to accept cyclists as road users and give them space, moderate your speed and share the road.