Balancing acts

Some stories in this weeks number of the 'Surrey and Epsom Comet' caught my eye over breakfast. The Comet being our local freebie, a freebie which still includes small ads from people wanting to sell stuff - for example 13 Patricia Cornwell novels for a tenner. A member of the family of online and print newspapers to be found at reference 1.

First up was the Guild of Professional Dog Walkers, up in arms over a plot to license their access to Banstead Common. Presumably there have been complaints about the number of dogs from other users of the common. As someone who tolerates dogs, rather than much liking them, my first reaction is that if you can't be bothered to walk your own dog, maybe you shouldn't have one. My second reaction is that somehow we have to get along with these people.

Then we had plans to redesignate an area in an old-peoples' complex in Cheam, presently used as a communal space and to push the communal activities into smaller rooms. Apparently some of the old folk had been getting upset by the amount of noise generated by said communal activities. And this in the very desirable area known as Cheam Village, with part of the complex concerned being snapped above. With Southern Housing being in the chair on this one - the long established housing association to be found at reference 3: 'We’re one of the largest housing providers in the UK with around 80,000 homes across London, the South East, the Isle of Wight and the Midlands, giving over 167,000 people somewhere affordable to call their own'. We will have to find out what they do on the Isle of Wight.

And lastly we had anger about a scheme to replace car parking spots in Merton with bays for hire cycles. With the car parking spots marked with an orange spot in the snap above possibly being among those which have been redesignated. Wimbledon Chase railway station just around the corner. With the council presumably doing its best to balance the needs of car users and (the often inconsiderate) cycle users in a crowded urban space. An opposition Liberal Democrat councillor has raised concerns.

All three matters probably soaking up lots of management time from somewhere. I'm just glad that it is not my time - not that I was ever any good at this kind of mediation and compromise. Not enough patience.

References

Reference 1: https://www.surreycomet.co.uk/.

Reference 2: https://bansteadcommons.org.uk/.

Reference 3: https://www.southernhousing.org.uk/.