Medway council

Medway council, they’re not always on the receiving end of the best compliments are they?

Like Marmite, Eastenders and Simon Cowell we either love them or hate them and there never seems to be anything in between.

So I would imagine at this point in proceedings and influenced by the fact I’m your local newspaper columnist you’d think this was going to be yet another rant by someone on something they’ve done wrong or made a right pigs ear out of , but that would be where you were sorely mistaken.

For stand back in amazement I am in fact on this occasion going to sing the praises of our borough council.

It all begins in the alleyway just off Bradfields Avenue in Walderslade that my kids have to walk along on their way to and fro from school.

On either side of the public footpath wire mesh fencing has been erected to separate the alleyway from the gardens and houses of residents.

However over time bits of the fence have been broken and deliberately pulled out at dangerous angles which means that getting along there without catching yourself or items of clothing on it is a major achievement especially when it seems to be the latest popular meeting place for the students of the surrounding schools to congregate in before morning registration.

To start off with I was quite happy with just telling them to be careful and watch where they were going with regards to it but when one of them ripped a massive hole in the arm in his old school coat on one of the sharp points and another had a near miss with his new coat which being slightly less padded  also left him with a surface scratch to his arm through the material I knew it was time someone did something about it before it wasn’t just clothing getting ripped but someone’s skin or a child’s face.

Logging onto the council website I sent off an email telling them exactly where the problem was and resigned myself to the fact it would probably take months for them to deal with it.

However I was to be proved wrong when just 24 hours later I received a telephone message on my mobile saying that work had been completed and the offending bit of fence was now secured out of harm’s way with cable ties.

So it’s a well done and thank you to the workers of Medway council this time, however I’m gutted to report that by the time I finally got round to inspecting  all your hard work someone has already made  a start on ruining it all again so don’t be surprised if this isn’t the last you hear from me yet !