Vent - stupid me & stupid council :(

MamaMoo_2

I was walking to the doctors earlier, and decided to cut across some land to get there.
A bit of background. The land joins on to the local park, separated by just a 1m wide footpath, and was a row of houses until last year. The land was then fenced off and used for storage of building materials in the local regeneration. About a week ago the fences were removed, apart from two or three panels around a mound of dirt. It's now just a muddy patch next to the playground (which isn't on Tarmac, the park was relocated, minus the safety flooring etc, and was just placed on a small patch of grassland.
So basically, two muddy patches of land, now joined by a path.
I have always cut through the park to get to the doctors, and as this land is now accessible, I decided to cut across here too. Nothing saying I shouldn't etc.
So I start walking across, I'm slipping a bit but figure it's just because the mud is wet, about 2.5m across the land my left foot suddenly sinks a few inches. Pull my left foot out and my right sinks. At this point my trainers are being pulled off and I'm quickly sinking. So after about 10 seconds I'm 1.5ft deep in mud, terrified, and sinking further.
Thanks to a kind man helping me (and almost getting stuck himself) I got free, minus a shoe which got sucked under and will probably never be seen again. (One of the kids playing football nearby went to try and help, deapite me telling him not to bother, and ended up starting to sink!)
Cue me walking home muddy and barefoot, and a little bit shaken.
I get home and immediately call the council. I know the houses on the land were council houses, and I called to ask that a sign was put up as the land goes from slightly slippy mud to a seemingly bottomless pit of quickmud!
It was clear that it could be dangerous if one of the kids playing football had kicked the ball onto the land and tried to get it back.
I'm not usually one for "won't somebody please think of the children", but in this case, it seems appropriate.
Anyway, the council just said we'll have someone phone you tomorrow, and were really disinterested. Am I wrong in thinking this should be taken more seriously?
Is there a specific council dept I should be asking for?
I know this was my fault, but I can't help thinking I may not be the only muppet that sees open land and thinks it should be safe to walk over?

Fire_Fox

Woah scary. :eek: The water table at present is very high so land behaving unpredicatably. Who does the land belong to, is it definitely council land now? If it is they are responsible for elfin safety on it.

I never say this but this might be one for the local papers, NOT to lay blame simply to raise awareness of the risks. A child fetching a ball would probably be fine because they would not be alone and lighter weight than you. Paper can remind people to call the emergency services, not play hero.

Maybe follow up your phone call to a council drone with an e-mail copied to all your local councillors and the MP? You rarely get anyone with clout on the telephone and drones tend to switch off if they think you are whinging. IME it's a nightmare trying to find the right department, they don't always want to work as a single organisation.

MamaMoo_2

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Woah scary. :eek: The water table at present is very high so land behaving unpredicatably. Who does the land belong to, is it definitely council land now? If it is they are responsible for elfin safety on it.

I never say this but this might be one for the local papers, NOT to lay blame simply to raise awareness of the risks. A child fetching a ball would probably be fine because they would not be alone and lighter weight than you. Paper can remind people to call the emergency services, not play hero.

Maybe follow up your phone call to a council drone with an e-mail copied to all your local councillors and the MP? You rarely get anyone with clout on the telephone and drones tend to switch off if they think you are whinging. IME it's a nightmare trying to find the right department, they don't always want to work as a single organisation.

AFAIK it's council. I believe the plan is to extend the playground onto that land :eek:
A small lad tried to get my shoe, he can't have been older than 9, which is why I worried. I'm not the lightest of people, but the guy who tried to help me out was smaller than average, and he started sinking too. Last thing I'd want is to hear the same thing happened to someone else.
Definitely a good idea about reminding people not to play hero though. Not sure whether going to the paper is the best idea as there's not a particularly local one.
Definitely will follow up though. Not a clue who to email. Their contact number is for the housing mostly, but I'll see what I can get out of them. Maybe say something on their Facebook page.
I'm just really worried with the proximity to the playground. I have no idea about the water table and whatnot, so not sure whether it's this that's causing the issue, or how permanent it will be. I was a bit emotional when I got home (not sure if from fear/relief/feeling like a total divvy!) but I can imagine it might be a bit traumatic for some.
Luckily, other than my pride and my shoe collection , I'm not hurt, but it wasn't nice.
Hopefully I'll have some luck tomorrow. If not, I'll nip over and put a couple of signs up myself.

Fire_Fox

Environmental Health is elfin safety but really PUSH the point that it is their land and they are liable for it - which means you could do with being sure not assuming, or fake confidence they probably won't check - I had to do this to get the rat infested midden cleared in the rear courtyard here last time. Take note of the full name and job title of who you speak to, sometimes that is a virtual kick in the pants.

Councillor e-mail addresses should be on council website somewhere, MP is on own/ party/ government website just Google. Local radio or other media? Traumatic I can well believe ((hugs))

Noctu

Not good. I think your local paper might like to know about it (and the publicity would hopefully push the council further to sort it out).

The editor of my local paper is active on Twitter, & in the past he's ran a story based on a Tweet I sent him!

MamaMoo_2

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Environmental Health is elfin safety but really PUSH the point that it is their land and they are liable for it - which means you could do with being sure not assuming, or fake confidence they probably won't check - I had to do this to get the rat infested midden cleared in the rear courtyard here last time. Take note of the full name and job title of who you speak to, sometimes that is a virtual kick in the pants.

Councillor e-mail addresses should be on council website somewhere, MP is on own/ party/ government website just Google. Local radio or other media? Traumatic I can well believe ((hugs))

I'm going to give it until midday, and if they still haven't returned my call, I shall fire off an email to my local councillors and call the contact centre again.
Good idea about taking names etc. as I guess once you have their information, you have somebody to point to if concerns are ignored.

nikki2804

Remind them that they have a duty of care to the people who use the area i.e. they could be sued if anything happens and they have not taken reasonable steps to make the area safe.

MamaMoo_2

Absolutely fuming. Have been ignored by the council on Twitter, promised callback wasn't received, and when I finally spoke to someone they were very uninterested. Somebody will look at it at "some point" but there are no timescales. How ridiculous!
I stressed it needs to be done ASAP, and if its not made safe by tomorrow, I shall be taking it further. Grrrr.

unholyangel

MamaMoo wrote: »

Absolutely fuming. Have been ignored by the council on Twitter, promised callback wasn't received, and when I finally spoke to someone they were very uninterested. Somebody will look at it at "some point" but there are no timescales. How ridiculous!
I stressed it needs to be done ASAP, and if its not made safe by tomorrow, I shall be taking it further. Grrrr.

Unfortunately it seems the normal way for councils to deal with such matters. A petition might be an idea.

When I was 14, I lost a friend in similar circumstances. A dog had died just weeks before and there had been a few near misses reported to them. It wasnt until after my friend died that they eventually took action. Kind of saddening that something so simple could have saved their life.

They're probably too busy with their fantastic bedroom tax.

maninthestreet

Have you informed the local Press - they like a story like this.
FYI - when you start sinking like that you need to spread you weight to reduce the pressure on the ground BEFORE you knees go beneath the surface - falling onto your backside is the best way to achieve that, then lie flat. This will enable you to free each foot/leg without the other foot/leg sinking deeper. Once both legs are free, crawl/roll back to solid ground.

MamaMoo_2

maninthestreet wrote: »

Have you informed the local Press - they like a story like this.
FYI - when you start sinking like that you need to spread you weight to reduce the pressure on the ground BEFORE you knees go beneath the surface - falling onto your backside is the best way to achieve that, then lie flat. This will enable you to free each foot/leg without the other foot/leg sinking deeper. Once both legs are free, crawl/roll back to solid ground.

Y'know, I know this. Weight distribution and whatnot. Unfortunately, I just panicked and didn't think.
I'm beginning to think that the local paper may be the best idea. My council didn't reply to me on Twitter until I pointed out to them that they were responsible if it happened again and could be sued!
I got a phonecall saying they were "looking at quotes for a trip-rail, but the woman dealing with it wouldn't be back until Monday"
Bearing in mind a trip rail is a tiny fence that most people will just hop over, as they do with the trip rail around some (safe!) land down the road. I said that either a decent height fence would need to be erected, or signs put up, and until such a time as this could be done permanently, temporary metal fencing should be placed around the area. I was told "err, I'll ask around" basically. Going to pop to the shops shortly, and if its still the same, I think the local rag may be my only option of lighting a fire under the council.
They've been disinterested at every turn. No understanding at all, not even a "crap, are you ok?".
I could understand if I was saying "ah, here I was walking across the muck when one of my Louboutin shoes got sucked under, buy me another pair and add in a few grand for emotional distress." But as it is, I had on a £20 pair of skate trainers that OH and replaced with the same pair yesterday. No big deal. Yes, I was a bit shaken afterwards. Again, it's dealable. I have no intention of trying to claim anything from them. All I'm asking them to do is secure the area. I could understand if I was asking for money etc. that they may think "well, she's a chancer, I bet the land's fine" but when all I've ever mentioned is how I want the land secured as I worry about the same happening to someone else, you'd think they'd listen and act. But no.
They admitted that they didn't know why the fences had been removed, and they really shouldn't have done so without checking that it was safe. If they are removed, muppets like me come along and thing "no fence, a patch of land next to a playground, both of which are in the middle of a built up area. Should be safe to walk on!"
You'd also think that, given the location and that it's half-term week, they'd be sorting this a bit faster.
I guess I'm just making a mountain out of a molehill