I'm at a loss as to the logic of the refuse collection operatives (Binmen!) leaving the lids of blue bins OPEN when they empty them.

Babergh, our lovely governing body, ask that we present the contents of our blue bins clean and DRY.  So, why do the Binmen feel it necessary to leave lids of bins open after emptying, whatever the weather?  On my last blue bin collection day several bins had been left open to the elements all day and had collected a lovely pool of rainwater by the time we all  got home from work and re-claimed them  from the other end of the green (Babergh:  aren't bins meant to be returned from the garden path from whence they were collected in the first place?!??)

Somebody, somewhere ..... please, SORT IT!



The Diva
3/4/08

So here we go again.  It's the end of the financial year and what do we get .... a veritable slalom in Head Lane, Gt Cornard, various roadworks and temporary traffic lights springing up faster than Spring daffs, work vans "parked" where they please ......

Why are all these engineering works, remedials etc all done at the same time? 

Will the Council ever learn?

The Diva
3/4/08

Why, oh why and thrice why do people fail to use their indicators when driving?  The other day I had a car pull out in front of me, causing me  to brake sharper than I would have liked.  Said car then proceeded to toodle along at 20 mph for a good 2 miles, encountering various mini-roundabouts, junctions, parked vehicles etc en route.  

Not once did this "driver" use their indicators.  I'm not Mystic Meg and would appreciate a bit of notice as to your intentions at junctions, as would other motorists waiting to join roundabouts, pedestrians waiting to cross the road and so on. 

Indicators - those pretty little orange things, generally one on each corner of your car.  They flash, y'know.  Orange. 

And whilst I'm on the subject, supermarket car parks are not (to my knowledge) exempt from the rules of the road either.  Just because you've pulled into Tesco / Waitrose car park, this does not  give you free licence to completely forget your Highway Code - or for that matter to park across 2 bays or so close to my drivers door I have to get in via the passenger side and "shuffle" over. 

Maybe our new "Terminator" in town should be issueing tickets against poor driving - it might encourage some of the repeat offenders to take the bus!



The Diva
19/02/08

Happy New Year to everyone!

The Diva

About 10 years ago I worked in Sudbury.  One of the major grumbles of my boss at the time was that there was nowhere actually in the Town Centre area to take clients for lunch or early "after work" suppers.  We usually resorted to Huffers - no disrespect to Huffers as the food has always been lovely, but not really a client-entertaining environment.

Whilst in town last weekend it struck me how much our lovely little town has come on over the last decade:  numerous Italian restaurants, Thai, improved pub food menus, bistros .... the choice is now endless!

One of my favourite things to do of a weekend (Sunday mornings to be precise) is walk from my home in Gt Cornard along the river into town and have breakfast at Bentleys.  The ambience is chilled to perfection - as is their OJ, the bacon sizzles and their full English fills the gap left by a late Saturday night.   All washed down with a capuccino.  Lovely!

It'll only be a matter of weeks before the town is awash with pretty Christmas lights to brighten up the dark evenings.  The temptation of walking into town for an after-work midweek supper will be too hard to contemplate!

Well done Sudbury, and all who dine in her ....



The Diva
18/10/07

So, Autumn is well and truly on the way.  Many people get depressed at this time of year, what with the dark mornings and the evenings drawing in.

But not me!

I've just started a new diet and fitness regime and have been using the Kingfisher Leisure Centre before work in the mornings.  My weekly weigh ins at "chubby club" are also giving me inspiration and I can't wait for weekend walks in my pink wellies, in my wooly hat and matching mittens!

Soon be Christmas!

The Diva
18/09/07

OK, so picture this.   It's Thursday evening, I've had a long, hard day at the office and I settle down to read my Suffolk Free Press.  Suddenly I begin to choke on my Maltesers whilst reading a letter from a disgruntled Babergh resident about  (wait for it ...) maggots in wheelie bins.

• What in the name of all things bizarre has this person (or their son?) been putting in their bin?
• How have they been putting it in their bin?
• Are they the unofficial disposal site for the local abbatoir?

For someone's path to look as if it's covered in snow when in fact it's maggots from the bin, there's gotta be some fundamental flaw in how they're disposing of their household waste.  

We never have maggots in our wheelie bin and our recycling bin is always full at the end of two weeks.  Perhaps the gentleman who wrote to the SFP should follow a few simple steps to avoid the Biblical Plague he describes:-

• Only buy what you need to buy - minimising what can go out of date and into your black bin
• Only cook what you need to cook, therefore minimising what you throw away
• Compost your kitchen waste, veggie peelings etc
• Make sure you wrap food waste and tie the bag before placing in your black bin - supermarket carrier bags are excellent for this but be mindful that some of them may have air holes in the bottom to keep the health and safety numpties happy!
• If possible, try to store your wheelie bin in the shade, and not in direct sunlight

It's been proved nationally that alternate weekly collections are reducing what we send to landfill and increasing our recycling.  If everyone just gets on with it and stops whingeing and making life difficult there will be no problems.

I feel priviledged to live in the Babergh district, and extremely proud of the fact that we're one of the top Disitrict's in the UK for recycling.

The Diva
17/08/07

NB:  I'm puzzled (and a little troubled too) as to how the maggots can climb their way out of a wheelie bin in the first place.  Are they descendents of Chris Bonnington???

In a day and age where our carbon footprint is monitored at every opportunity and we're urged to use public transport as much as possible, why is our local train operator calling itself "ONE" when clearly the service it provides differs depending on your location.

I refer to advance saver tickets.  Extremely good value tickets can be purchased provided you travel from Colchester/Ipswich etc.  These tickets are not available on the Sudbury - Marks Tey branch line, so a day out "up London" usually means driving to Colchester, paying to park the car and then boarding the train from there. 

Surely "ONE" railway should offer "ONE" service - whether you wish to board the train at Colchester, Bures or Stratford!

Whilst on the subject - we Cornard/Sudbury people like to stay out late too - can we have some late public transport returns to Sudbury after 10pm PLEASE!

The Diva
15/08/07