Stifling Enterprise or Good Council Management?

[davieG]

Ok, I know we don't have all the facts and details but I get the feeling that councils in general seem be more intent on blocking than supporting/helping in these situations

From the Merc

Couple fight to keep veg shop

A couple who run a fruit and vegetable stall from a farm are fighting council moves to shut them down.

Joy Catlin and Andrew Tymanskyj operated the business from the side of the A607 at Kirby Bellars, near Melton, for 15 months without any problems.

But the couple moved the selling operation from roadside verges to a stall down a farm track several months ago after police and Melton borough council officials expressed concerns over the amount of traffic the business was generating.

Planning permission to operate a retail outlet at Park Farm was refused by the council, which has now issued the couple with an enforcement notice.

The council cites increased traffic and poor visibility at the farm entrance among its reasons for issuing the notice.

The couple have now appealed.

Mrs Catlin said: "We started selling by the side of the road, but the police came once and were concerned because as we were getting busier more people were pulling out on to the main road.

"We moved to a shed down the bottom of the drive to the farm to make it easier for parking and have built up a good customer base."

She said: "If we grew 90 per cent of the produce we are selling it wouldn't be a problem. We earn a living from it and it's now a small business."

A Melton Borough Council spokesman said the development constituted a retail shop in open countryside and the increased traffic and poor visibility were contrary to planning guidelines.

The couple have appealed to the Secretary of State.

Is this also an indication of what might happen if someone decides to do a 'Big Society' activity?

[Bellend Sebastian]

I'm not familiar with the precise location but hasn't the A607 got a pretty poor accident record? If there's any suggestion that they're doing anything that makes it even slightly more dangerous then it's not surprising that the authorities are getting involved. As usual though, it would be nice if the council could offer something constructive to help them keep the operation going rather than just pulling the plug, but I imagine the argument is that it's down to the individuals to come up with an alternative and the council's responsibility is just to OK it

[davieG]

I'm not familiar with the precise location but hasn't the A607 got a pretty poor accident record? If there's any suggestion that they're doing anything that makes it even slightly more dangerous then it's not surprising that the authorities are getting involved. As usual though, it would be nice if the council could offer something constructive to help them keep the operation going rather than just pulling the plug, but I imagine the argument is that it's down to the individuals to come up with an alternative and the council's responsibility is just to OK it

I don't really want to turn this into a big debate re the Big Society but I think it reflects why that wont work too well, you can't just do things these days especially where it involves the public, the councils almost always need to be involved, that's how society has evolved. With councils being cut where are the people to 'give the ok' to voluntary initiatives.

Unfortunately everytime there is an 'incident' there is inevitably a media driven public backlash which results in more control and restrictions.

[accessory]

Without knowing the exact circumstances of this case, it's difficult to take a view.

But if there was a traffic accident, and the stall was deemed to be a factor, the council would be getting it in the neck from all sides - and local taxpayers could probably face a hefty lawsuit as well.

As our society becomes more litigious, risk management becomes ever more of an issue for any publicly-funded organisation.

[davieG]

Without knowing the exact circumstances of this case, it's difficult to take a view.

But if there was a traffic accident, and the stall was deemed to be a factor, the council would be getting it in the neck from all sides - and local taxpayers could probably face a hefty lawsuit as well.

As our society becomes more litigious, risk management becomes ever more of an issue for any publicly-funded organisation.

I guess there's traffic going in and out of the farm anyway, they must have deliveries of farm related stuff so it's really about an increase in traffic. Surely if it's deemed unsafe then that should apply to any traffic Frequency is only a problem if it affects others is it not?

[Houdini Logic]

I don't really want to turn this into a big debate re the Big Society but I think it reflects why that wont work too well, you can't just do things these days especially where it involves the public, the councils almost always need to be involved, that's how society has evolved. With councils being cut where are the people to 'give the ok' to voluntary initiatives.

Unfortunately everytime there is an 'incident' there is inevitably a media driven public backlash which results in more control and restrictions.

I'm going to run a library from my house and stock the shelves with pornography and the odd copy of the anarchist's cookbook

[Trav Le Bleu]

I'm going to run a library from my house and stock the shelves with pornography and the odd copy of the anarchist's cookbook

You can eat anarchists?!

[Head Honcho]

The council needs to act fast to tackle hard working people like this..........................................well we don't want them threatening the likes of Tesco now do we.

[Bellend Sebastian]

I don't know for sure but I think it's close to where those six youngsters got cleaned up on their way back from Skegness a couple of years back. There was a lot of talk about what a dangerous stretch of road that was back then