One might have thought that this would have been the occasion for joyful celebration, dancing in the street, new friendships formed, perhaps even marriages arranged, but it hasn't quite worked out like that. "On the street" the talk is all of shoddy workmanship "(they're working too fast"), the infernal noise ("will it never end?"), the hopelessness of it all ("you'll see, the tractors and combine harvesters will soon reduce the road to its original state") and bitterness ("how come our neighbours have got a nice new edging for their flower border, and not us?").
"Off the street", jealousy and rancour are the order of the day: "I thought we were supposed to be in the midst of a financial crisis"; "How come their street was chosen and not ours?" "I don't suppose it would be anything to do with the fact that there are four tribal elders village councillors living in the street, would it?" "This is going to add a hefty amount to our rates, I don't mind telling you".
It just goes to show how difficult it is to ever get anything done in a little French village, and how important it is not to cut back on the defence budget!
Are you sure you are not living in the Hebrides? Local reaction here is identical. So is the road surfacing materials & workmansip.
ReplyDeleteWe find that the contractors prefer the wettest days of the year. This guarantees lots of repeat work.
You have opened up a new "line of inquiry", Peter. I hadn't thought of the contribution made by the civil engineering companies! This is apparently one of the biggest rackets in France - and that's saying something!
ReplyDeleteBarnaby, the first two paragraphs of the below post remind me very much of some of your posts.
ReplyDeletehttp://acejet170.typepad.com/foundthings/2010/10/special-delivery.html
Greetings Barnaby
ReplyDeleteYour amusing post is like something from the Diary column of the Spectator although that mag tends to extol the virtues of country life rather than knock/mock them.
In urban SW19/20 road works tend not to favour one resident over another so do not create the kind of local politics that you describe. On the other hand the principal road connecting SW19 with SW20 and to beyond the Pale is dug up so often that it is a standing joke. Since September it has been dug up for gas pipes, which digging is not due to finish until February 2011. Then the local council by virtue of its status as an 'olympic council' (2012 olympic tennis) has apparently been given c.£0.5m to tidy the place up for 2012. Consulting the locals as to how to spend it is apparently resulting in a decision to dig up the road again next year to construct pedestrian crossing points that enable people to cross over once from road corner to road corner diagonally ie on the hypoteneuse rather than crossing twice by way of a right angle to make it to the other side.
Your local politics sound far less complicated.