Council pavement repair - Am I being pedantic?

Council pavement repair - Am I being pedantic?

Author
Discussion

AlexGSi2000

Original Poster:

521 posts

209 months

Yesterday (01:25)
quotequote all
A few days ago when I returned from work, I noticed some white marking paint around a few of the pavement flags outside my house.

It was a little odd, as the ones that had been marked looked no worse than any of the others and didn't appear to be loose / raised.

Fast forward a few days, they have been lifted and replaced with tarmac - I think it looks an absolute shambles.

Not sure if its just me, but its ground my gears on a few counts;

For starters, why couldn't the flags have been re-layed or replaced with new?
What about the other flags next to it - the one to the left has a raised edge and the ones to the right are cracked / broken.
I think I know the answer - cost. But why bother if there are others that have just been left?

Its a shame, as if I was given the option to fund a proper repair / replacement I would have contributed.

Probably just me, I know its a non-issue in the grand scheme of things but I think it looks unsightly and blatantly shouts that it was done on the cheap.

Picture for reference


hidetheelephants

30,223 posts

208 months

Yesterday (05:13)
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Typical unfortunately, blobbing tarmac into flagstones or pavers is depressingly common, I assume it's down to either outsourcing the repair to a contractor who won't give any sts about anything other than fulfilling the letter of the contract or council staff with instructions to get a repair done in the least time possible. Relaying it with replacement flagstones would take longer but would probably be more durable.

Tisy

680 posts

7 months

Yesterday (06:15)
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It will fade to the same colour as the large patch of tarmac at the dropped kerb within a couple of months so don't worry about it .

blueg33

41,143 posts

239 months

Yesterday (07:22)
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Looks awful.

I am sure that one of the reasons people don’t seem to care about dropping litter etc is that the state doesn’t give a fk about the quality of our public realm.

They just do the cheapest sttiest job possible.

Every time I visit Europe this difference becomes so clear. Generally they care. Look at the pavements in Portugal for example or the public squares in France.

Tisy

680 posts

7 months

Yesterday (07:24)
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blueg33 said:
Every time I visit Europe this difference becomes so clear. Generally they care. Look at the pavements in Portugal for example or the public squares in France.
How long ago was this? If you go now you won't even be able to see them as they are covered in human fecal matter.

blueg33

41,143 posts

239 months

Yesterday (08:20)
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Tisy said:
How long ago was this? If you go now you won't even be able to see them as they are covered in human fecal matter.
What on earth are you on about?

Tigerj

415 posts

111 months

Yesterday (08:59)
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The answer is most likely the councils highway team has next to no money, let alone money to spare on making things over and above functional.

Tarmac will be cheaper and quicker. The other flagstones won’t meet the intervention levels and won’t be replaced unless absolutely necessary.

blueg33

41,143 posts

239 months

Yesterday (09:04)
quotequote all
Tigerj said:
The answer is most likely the councils highway team has next to no money, let alone money to spare on making things over and above functional.

Tarmac will be cheaper and quicker. The other flagstones won t meet the intervention levels and won t be replaced unless absolutely necessary.
Indeed.

We have cut and cut so much since 2016 that there is a mountain to climb. However, respect for our public realm and doing the job properly has been an issue for much longer.

Tisy

680 posts

7 months

Yesterday (09:09)
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blueg33 said:
Tisy said:
How long ago was this? If you go now you won't even be able to see them as they are covered in human fecal matter.
What on earth are you on about?
Clearly you've not been to the public squares in French or Portugal for quite some time.

John D.

19,254 posts

224 months

Yesterday (09:13)
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You're not being pedantic, but if you want better you'll need to pay more council tax I expect.

DaveyBoyWonder

3,159 posts

189 months

Yesterday (09:19)
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Tisy said:
Clearly you've not been to the public squares in French or Portugal for quite some time.
I have but didn't see anything like what you're describing. Are you dreaming?

blueg33

41,143 posts

239 months

Yesterday (09:28)
quotequote all
Tisy said:
blueg33 said:
Tisy said:
How long ago was this? If you go now you won't even be able to see them as they are covered in human fecal matter.
What on earth are you on about?
Clearly you've not been to the public squares in French or Portugal for quite some time.
Been to both in the last month and over 100 times in the last 5 years. I do not recognise your description.

Edited by blueg33 on Thursday 10th July 09:36

MesoForm

9,478 posts

290 months

Yesterday (09:29)
quotequote all
Tigerj said:
The answer is most likely the councils highway team has next to no money, let alone money to spare on making things over and above functional.

Tarmac will be cheaper and quicker. The other flagstones won t meet the intervention levels and won t be replaced unless absolutely necessary.
Councils are social care organisations that do a bit of road repair and bin collecting on the side, they really are doing the minimum they can legally get away with.

ARHarh

4,736 posts

122 months

Yesterday (10:03)
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They did this in my local town, everybody kicked up a fuss about. The council then said it was a temporary fix and replacement flags had been ordered and were replaced a week or 2 later. So you never know if your local facebook group kicks up enough fuss they will pretend it is all under control and will be fixed properly as soon as the paperwork has been signed.

DodgyGeezer

44,037 posts

205 months

Yesterday (10:46)
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blueg33 said:
Looks awful.

I am sure that one of the reasons people don t seem to care about dropping litter etc is that the state doesn t give a fk about the quality of our public realm.

They just do the cheapest sttiest job possible.

Every time I visit Europe this difference becomes so clear. Generally they care. Look at the pavements in Portugal for example or the public squares in France.
been to the US a few times over the last couple of years and every time I am staggered by the lack of litter in most of the places we've visited (not to mention well cared for verges)


MesoForm said:
Councils are social care organisations that do a bit of road repair and bin collecting on the side, they really are doing the minimum they can legally get away with.
dunno about that - councils seem to be a way of funnelling money into grifters' pockets first and foremost.

budgie smuggler

5,722 posts

174 months

Yesterday (10:57)
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"Street scars" I think they are known as.

We've got a bunch of 'temporary repairs' in the brick pavement on our high street, some have been there nearly 15 years. Looks ste.

NiceCupOfTea

25,396 posts

266 months

Yesterday (11:44)
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We had the same outside our house. Our road has a grass verge with trees planted that looks very nice, originall done in the 50s/60s. As the trees have died over the years, they have been replaced with ones inappropriate for their situation - for example, the one outside our house wasn't much than a sapling when we moved in 20 years ago, however now it is huge and roots are encroaching on our drains and I suspect are probably not too far from our foundations.

Repeated reports on fixmystreet have got some pruning but it covers our cars in crap most of the year round. It has destroyed the kerbstones by breaking them and pushing them into the road, and they have just been removed now, and the roots also broke and pushed up the paving stones on the pavement. The fix was to pour tarmac there instead (black, to contrast with the pinky coloured slabs rolleyes ) which cracked within a few weeks. It's an absolute shambles. And this follows completely repaving the entire pavement about 5 years ago which was a lacklustre job replacing the original 1950s/60s pavers which still looked good except for a few cracked ones...

Little Lofty

3,607 posts

166 months

Yesterday (12:22)
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Looks like the kerb has been dropped at some point and the flags have cracked, it will be easier to follow the dips and dives of the remaining flags using tarmac than if using new ones. I agree it looks crap, but it’s the councils land so they do whatever is cheapest and easiest, they always do the bare minimum. My son is a highways inspector, I’ll ask his opinion when he gets back.