Neighbour demanded proof of our hosepipe ban exemption

[HoseBan]

My NDN has just demanded to see proof that we are exempt from the local hose pipe ban !!!!

I have said to them I won’t be showing them anything as it’s private but they can report me if I want and the water company can check.

We literally have just been filling a small paddling pool daily for the dc for after school and today have a little sprinkler toy as it’s boiling.

I know some people aren’t aware that there are exemptions (eg being on priority services register or certain tariff) but I’m so shocked they demanded proof !!!

I’m sure it would cool other people’s kids down and regulate their moods- but they can’t!

?

You’re massively taking the piss there! It was boiling for everyone’s kids and they had to go without. One thing using your exemption for truly necessary reasons but a paddling pool etc is a luxury!

You made your kids go without because you couldn't be arsed to fill one up with a bucket?

If you don't have an exemption, that's what you could have done.

Why did they have to go without? Are you incapable of filling a paddling pool with a bucket? If you are maybe you need an exemption.

I prioritise the privilege of having water to drink every time I (and those in my region), turn the tap on. Filling a paddling pool AND having a sprinkler toy on is pure selfishness!

Compared to the perfectly fine filling a brand new swimming pool or turf laying a new garden? Save your wrath for those, not a disabled kid's paddling pool.

There’s nothing stopping anyone filling and using a paddling pool for any kid though - disabled or not. The distinction is how you can fill it if there is a hosepipe ban in place. And the ban covers the disabled person themselves. So unless the disabled child is filling the pool themselves, then the able bodied parent/s should be using a watering can or a bucket, the same as anyone else in the ban area. It’s a concession and like everything else for disabled people, open to abuse.

Why did they have to go without ? There’s no ban on filling a paddling pool for- you just can’t use a hosepipe to do it.

So your children didn't have to go without, you just wanted to appear superior.

We aren't going to run out of drinking water because people fill a paddling pool. If we were, then it'd be a paddling pool ban.

Our ban only started this week, I called Essex & Suffolk water and they confirmed I can water my garden as we have a Blue Badge. I'm doing the front early AM and only the plants not the grass, don't want to rub my neighbours nose in it. They all know we have the Blue Badge as we have a disabled bay painted by the council on the road/pavement outside our house

My son has a blue badge. What he lacks is a desire to water the garden so it's pretty dead. It's more for adults and kids who normally do water the garden in non hose pipe bans. So the moral here is I need to get ds out gardening more in time for the next ban.

Maybe they don’t want to be at a stand pipe in the road in a few weeks because the entitled OP and loads like them think they can wriggle round the regulations.

What’s the difference filling a paddling pool with buckets and a hose? You use the same amount of water. Surely if the. You just wouldn’t fill a paddling pool as you understand you are using unnecessary water.

It's just to make it less convenient, so fewer people will do it every day.

There isn’t a ban on filling a paddling pool, or watering the garden, the ban is on hosepipes. If you’re using a bucket or watering can it takes more effort than simply standing there with a hose, so the amount of water you’re using is naturally limited by the effort needed.

How is OP entitled ? She has a genuine exemption and isn’t doing anything wrong. The ban is on hosepipes, not paddling pools. Personally l think if you’re going to issue exemptions based on disability then the exemption should apply to the disabled person themselves, not the whole family.

It’s a bit like the assisted bin collection - if there’s someone else able bodied in the household who can take the bins out then the disabled person doesn’t need an assisted bin collection and doesn’t get one. Same with the hosepipe ban - if someone else in the household is capable of carrying a bucket or watering can then there’s no need for an exemption on the grounds of disability.

She’s entitled because she’s gaming the system.
There is no earthly reason why, because she has a blue badge she can fill her paddling pool with a hose. She’s not doing it with buckets..
The water boards should make it crystal clear. Given a sniff of leeway, chancers will be bending the rules.
During Covid the French govt said you could go no further than (iirc) 2km from your home unless it was to buy food and the gendarmes heaved you over if you were caught.
The UK said you could go a reasonable distance to eg exercise and so we had people driving to the Lakes for exercise or to Barnard Castle to test their eyesight

Once again, I will not follow the ban.

If you have a blue badge you're still not going to be daft if you have a water meter.

Because people can’t be arsed to use buckets and would be less likely to do it.

‘A small round children's paddling pool holds about 130 to 400 litres (35 to 105 gallons). Larger rectangular family paddling pools hold between 400 and 800 litres (105 to 210 gallons) of water, depending on their footprint and sidewall height.’

So filling a small pool with a 1 gallon watering can would take 35 visits to the tap.