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Saturday, May 16, 2015

May 16. Day 136. Not happy Jan

There was a bit of protesting going on at my place today.
Rumple was putting on the sad eyes and threatening to call the RSPCA over the fact that he had to have a bath. I know. That's so unfair.
And in the afternoon I joined a community action meeting at the office of Councillor Helen Abrahams. As someone who spent years in the press box reporting council, I am well aware that change does not come easy. It is not just a case of NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) but often it seems like the BANANA  (BUILD ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ANYWHERE NEAR ANYTHING) principle is at play. So it should not be surprising that residents are up in arms at plans to change traffic arrangements in my area. Yes, it is true that the "what's-in-it-for-me" motivation is at play when I say the proposal on the table is about as stupid at I've ever seen. The ability to turn into our street will be seriously restricted which will be personally massively inconvenient. So I would be voicing my opposition regardless. But the thinking is crazy. Part of the plan is to stop accidents at that intersection. That's a fine ideal but it's based on old traffic statistics. A bus stop at that intersection was moved a number of years back and there hasn't been an accident there since. So they are trying to stop accidents that don't happen. But worse, the plan is to direct turning traffic further down the street - to an intersection where there are accidents. Putting a U-Turn facility there will quite literally be another accident waiting to happen. The people at the meeting were united in their opposition and hopefully the planners will see that.

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