Thursday, November 10, 2005

Flushed with success!! (?)

If anything I am an armchair politician (witness the rantings and ravings of previous postings). Not so today! I went along to the local Planning Committee meeting to speak against a proposal to change the use of a now-redundant shop to make it a fast-food takeaway. The local "convenience" store amalgamated with the local newsagent and closed one of the shops in the rank of four that serves my local area. They still own the site and want to sell it - but not to someone who will compete with their business! So they want to sell it with planning permission to become a "fast-food" takeaway! Well the locals don't want that. It causes traffic and parking problems in an already overcrowded street. It causes litter problems - which lead to public health problems from rotting food and vermin. So I thought: "Are you man or mouse, young Mac? Did our ancestors die in countless myriads of world wars to be ruled by the whims of the likes of McDonalds and Pizza Hut? STAND UP AND FIGHT!" And I did - as did several other local residents. I said my bit in the allotted 1 minute and 40 seconds (rules of the committee - chairman). And at the end of the debate the councillors voted 5-4 against the proposal and 5-4 to reject the proposed use! Another blow for Democracy? Probably not. More likely just a load of nimbys who don't want their way of life further eroded. A tiny blip in the whole sort of general mish mash of problems in the world. But I suspect the Mac household will witness the quaffing of the juice of the vine in celebration. One small win of a skirmish - roll on the war!!!!

1 comment:

Andi said...

Why did anybody think a village with two takeaways needed another one anyhow? Doesn't make any sense! All I can say to the failure of the planning application is "F*** Yeah!" :D