I have had a sabbatical from the column as demands on my novel writing had taken precedence of trying to get my latest book published before Christmas – I know it’s a lame excuse, but like everyone else I like to enjoy my Christmas break with all the trimmings that go with it.  We are now seeing holes appear back in our roads and uneven pavements due to colder than usual weather when suddenly it’s like a Spring day and the next day the temperature plummets to a new low and the following day it snows.  Having looked at the manifesto of the Conservative party – just to remind myself the promises made to ensure the Tory party was voted in as the next Parliament I distinctly remember seeing our next candidate for Eastbourne holding up a printed placard with the words in capitals “Health & Safety”.  I can only assume that this was just a ploy and it would be the first item on their agenda to be slung out of the next committee meeting due to lack of funds.  So uneven and cracked pavements making it unsafe for pedestrians and persons who are incapacitated and have to travel in their motorised wheelchairs and holes that have appeared once again in our roads because of patching.  Once there is a weakness in botched patching, the icy fingers of the frost and snow lift up the rubbishy filling and we are back to square one.  Beverington Road leading off the Rodmill is a haven of holes, almost like a Rabbit Warren.  When driving up that road, it is very clear that there is no way that a driver can avoid these holes.  ESCC YOU HAVE FAILED AGAIN – Health and Safety, you just don’t know the meaning of the WORD.

Since having bought my new car I had to have a wheel alignment carried out which wasn’t an excessive cost but had the roads been repaired in the proper manner, this repair would not have been necessary.

Doesn’t our Council Tax form of what we pay describe a proportion of where our money goes to and one of the services must be the maintainance of our roads and pavements does this not count for anything or is it another local ploy by those who govern our fair county?  As a person has pointed out, some pavements are uneven due to tree roots. This of course can’t be helped as some of the trees were planted many years ago, but the one thing I can’t understand is why in Heavens’ name  do the local Council place new trees so close to the road and narrow pavements where in due time they will disturb the pavements?  It is a known fact that roots are three times as long as the height of a tree.  So a tree at a height of 100 feet will have roots of 300 feet long. In many directions. That is why you should never plant a tree near your house as this probably would in time disturb the drains and foundations.

There was a horrified look on David Cameron’s face as he donned his deep sea diving gear when he visited the parts of the country that had been flooded again.  Obviously the amount of money deployed to make the defences safe and waterproof had failed, and yet again our military and the local constabulary, Fire Fighters and the R.N.L.I. were involved in the clearing up as the drains were invaded and health hazards were floating in people’s properties.  More money poured into something that should have been cleared the first time round.

The problem with this Government is that everything is based on promises they never keep!