Another Mr Angry on the phone

Westleton relic a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

OK, I know I'm ever so slightly biased as it is part of my job to decide locations for them, but I do fail to understand quite how worked up people can get over the presence of a bus stop somewhere in the vicinity of their house. And let us be clear about this, I am not talking about a bus shelter, or a raised kerb for wheelchair access or even something as sinister as a timetable display case. Just a simple sign on a pole (and often on a lamp column that was there already, rather than a purpose built post). And in at least 9 out of 10 of complaints we are talking about locations that have been bus stops (not necessarily marked with a flag, but registered with us, with the bus companies and showing up on Google Maps) for as long as anyone can remember.

Over the years I have been accused of:
Endangering lives - if people are waiting at the bus stop when I want to pull in or out of my drive I won't be able to see and may hit them/oncoming traffic. Well, try looking with your eyes, and anyway it is rare indeed for most stops to actually have someone waiting for most services.

Ruining sleep - how can I get any rest with a bus stop outside my house? This is a pretty rural county and we only have two bus services that run past 11pm, and one of those sticks to the A12, and only a handful that start before 7am. Apologies to the night shift people, but the road would be there anyway and, indeed, so would the buses be passing by.

Devaluing property - I want at least £10,000 in compensation as that's what my house has lost in value. Er, no it hasn't. In fact, in this day and age I can see people choosing a house because there is a stop handy and they don't need to buy that car.

Destroying property - my 16th century cottage is being shaken to pieces by bus-induced vibrations or people waiting are leaning on my wall and knocking it down/leaving marks on it. You can prove that can you? We survey our stops regularly so I've got photos of your house going back at least ten years I can look for cracks on...

And so much more. My pet favourite is when children can no longer play in the garden because somebody might look in from the upper deck. Which, again, they could have been doing all along as the bus route has been passing your hosue for years.

MrsB and I lived with a bus stop outside our flat before we bought the house and it never bothered us one little bit. And that had a shelter and everything. OK, so some stops get kids hanging around them with nothing better to do, but then so do 100 other street corners without a bus stop and I'm not taking responsibility for that one.

There are more pressing things in this world to worry about.

Sources of annoyance

Came home tonight to find the third charity bag through the door in as many days. Whay have they all decided to target us this week? Something to do with the distributors having been off over the school hols perhaps? They have all gone straight back outside where they will no douibt sit on the drive for a week before we give up and thrown them in the bin. I've never known an empty one be picked up for re-use despite them promising to. When we have clothes to get rid of they are generally in no fit state to go on to anyone so these bags really are a waste of time. So on that note, here are a few more things annoying me riight now...

Masterchef - The Professionals. Who the hell thought up the broadcast format for this? Having 45 minutes per group of hopefuls rather than 30 is great, but why is the first show split over two days? Makes no sense at all. Loving the show though, nice to see people who think they can do it all making the same mistakes as the amateurs.

People phoning up to complain about bus shelters. Especially the ones who see a pole or kerb go in and assume we will follow it up with a shelter. If only I had the budget. (OK, that's a pretty specific moan that won't be relevant to most people!)

Dark evenings. Autumn isn't supposed to come on this quickly. When I come home from work I want to enjoy a nice light evening still, not be thinking about putting the lights on to make the drive. It is still only September after all.

The Beatles remasters being yet again full-price discs. Haven't they had enough money off us all over the years? They should have done the decent thing and made them bargains. Especially when the first three albums would probably fit together on one CD.

Not being able to remember the other thing I was going to moan about!

How to shoot yourself in the foot: Part One. Can't remember if I mentioned it, but when he left Mike had a letter complaining about Endeavour House printed in the local paper, and has apparently been banned from the building as a result.

Last night, their front page article went like this:

Hot air over new building


April 20, 2004 18:57

EFFICIENCY has gone out of the window - unlike any of the hot air at Endeavour House - a senior council worker has claimed today.

Staff at Suffolk County Council's much-vaunted new showpiece headquarters have found their move has been far from smooth, the frustrated council officer said. Martin Chiverton, a planning officer in the council's environment and transport department, said he has been left hot under the collar by his new working conditions in the building which cost £18m. This is despite some other workers praising how good Endeavour House is to work in The Evening Star last week.

"I have to say that is not my experience, or that of my colleagues in this department," said Mr Chiverton in response to their claims.

He said other staff found the new offices uncomfortable: "The massive atrium has no opening windows and no ventilation; when the sun shines it is uninhabitable," Mr Chiverton said. He said there was no air conditioning in the central area - and it was very uncomfortable on the fine days last week. "It's going to be hellish in the summer," he warned.

Basic facilities were also inadequate: "There are not enough gents' toilets (I cannot vouch for the ladies'). The only urinals are on the ground floor.

"I'm sure that TXU, who had the building designed for them, did not expect any men to work here!

"The food in the restaurant and coffee bar has gone upmarket, and so have the prices. The "coffee platform" looks more like an oil platform."

In addition Mr Chiverton criticised the IT provision in the building which cost for power company TXU £40m to build and which the council bought for less than half that price. He said: "We might have new screens for our computers but we still have the same basic computer and they are using an old operating system that the IT (Information Technology) staff don't know how to use. "They have to be linked up to our old server in St Edmund House - and there are no plans to move it over here," he said.

There was also insufficient storage space so files had to be archived and it took some time to retrieve them when necessary, he added.

Mr Chiverton also said the lack of visitors' parking at Endeavour House caused problems for people attending meetings in the new building - it was not acceptable to expect all of them to walk or use the bus.

Mr Chiverton said many of his colleagues had been irritated by the Star's interview with employees chosen by the council's public relations department last week. "They might be happy, but that's not true of everyone here - and I'm certainly not alone," he said.

RESPONDING to Mr Chiverton's criticisms a spokesman for the county council today said the atrium was naturally ventilated. And while it could get hot, it complied with all health and safety legislation.

He said: "Some work is still ongoing putting the finishes touches to Endeavour House but the building is due to be completed by the end of the month.

"Staff were informed of the building work in progress and we have kept disruption to a minimum," he said.

"Some teething problems have occurred which is only natural for a new building.

"We have experienced a few problems getting the balance right with the air conditioning as more people move in."

Different departments had used different computer systems in their previous offices which had caused a few problems since moving to the new headquarters - but these were being ironed out and most staff had not had any difficulties.

"Costly office space is no longer used for records that are not used frequently and new electronic systems will mean we don't need as many paper files in the future," he said.

"Staff have been weeding out old and unused files. The vast majority of the organisation has benefited from this process, creating far more efficient use of office space."

And the council rejected claims that the lack of parking would cause problems for visitors to Endeavour House. "There is plenty of public parking available nearby," said the spokesman.

"As part of our green travel plan we encourage the use of park and ride, cycling and public transport wherever possible but of course we would never suggest that these are the only modes of transport."

Staff surveys suggested most liked the new restaurant - but prices would have gone up whether they had moved or not.

And the spokesman maintained Endeavour House was a model of convenience: "The male toilets provided are more than adequate to meet the needs of the occupants of Endeavour House. The idea of not having urinals provides more flexibility."