To think a lot of the Uk looks like a state

[Novembermummy88]

Not sure if I am being dramatic or if years of austerity are really starting to show…? Lately I’ve really started to notice how filthy, run down and falling apart everywhere looks! I live in a town in the south east on the borders of the M25. Every where there are gapping pot holes (can hardly avoid the volume there are now and genuinely concerned I will lose a wheel at some point!), broken lamp posts, the volume of litter / filth on the roads seems very high and can’t remember the last time I saw a road sweeper, and things like pathways are a state, road markings worn out, SO many closed/dilapidated shops….the town just looks awful as do many of the nearby towns! Is it just the South East looking like this? Aibu?! Or have I watched too much Selling Sunsets and setting my expectations too high…???

Lots of people don't have spare time to do that kind of thing anymore sadly for the reasons stated in the thread.

@Notcontent I'm in N London too! I'm old enough to remember skidding around on DP frequently and scrubbing shoes. Delightful. Maybe the locals in my area (Hackney and Islington) are well behaved? I'd say 85-90% do scoop which is 85-90% more than say 20 years ago. But yuk it is so grim isn't it? I mean it's about as bad as humans just going to the loo in the street and not clearing it up.

Pot holes are filled as long as they are reported. Takes a couple of days.

Not round here in south Scotland on b roads they are there for over a year despite repeated reporting . can’t make a direst report to anyone as no one answers the phone- emails only

I completely agree with this. I live in Cornwall and everything is starting to look so drab in once nice towns. No-one seems to paint or care about their shops or properties, so much more rubbish etc.

It's gets me down actually!

Aaaand we're back to people discussing their own experiences of the effects for them without engaging with the wider causes of these issues, fix to fix them, or acknowledging that without addressing the wider problem even if their own personal gripes were fixed it could only be done to the detriment of somebody else having what they need, because the country is getting poorer and generating ever less revenue and will continue to do so until the productivity issue is addressed. I really despair, even when you take the time to explain and set out details of how things can be improved people ignore and go back to moaning about their own local or personal problems and refuse to look at the wider solutions or support them. This is why we have ended up here.

They close the outer lane to traffic when they have a crew working in my neck of the woods, and the verges are grassy embankments, with a low wall at the edge of the shoulder so cars are very unlikely to ever come in contact with the grass.

@traceyseymourseesmore
The clean up crews are not shoplifters or the like, who are rarely prosecuted. They are inmates serving custodial sentences.

My state has an Adopt a Highway programme, where a company or other group sponsors cleanup of a stretch of highway, and gets their name on a sign along that stretch. The group provides volunteers and arranges pick up days. The state provides hi viz jackets, bags, and equipment There are unsafe stretches of highways that can't be worked on by anyone. The dept of transport takes care of them.

I find there's more of a culture of volunteering in the US than the UK.

I am going to email my MP regarding my initial post. I think it’s a good point people don’t bother to lobby their MPs anymore, probably because they think it’s pointless which is disappointing. I also think the MSM has a big part to blame in making people think it’s not worth bothering to email an MP, and I would say there is a general lack of “education” about how to lobby for what you see right. Plus this social media trend of slagging off “Karens” I also think makes people think they shouldn’t voice their opinions or stand up for what they see right. Our local MP is a Tory and the area has been Tory since the dawn of time (unfortunately). Although last local election it was a much closer call than it had been in the past here. The MP is useless, NEVER seen in the area or does anything. It does really get me down tbh as I’m mid 30s invested in a home here with young kids who have started school. Makes me worry that when they are older they’ll up sticks and move to a better country (I couldn’t blame them!).

Here's the thing:
"so many residents groups have been set up and go out and about and organise cleaning days"

Very laudable but takes the local council off the hook, and that is happening on a larger scale all over the UK. We are saying "I give up, the people in charge are rubbish, I'm gonna do something myself"
That doesn't fix it, just makes your little piece of the UK a little better.

I can see NO ONE in politics right now who will face this truth and do something about it.

Councils have had terrible Tory driven budget cuts but still seem unable to prioritise so called 'blue collar work', which is actually the useful kind that most people will notice, and instead prefer to preserve the more middle class type of work, much of which wouldn't be noticed if cut.

@ThatOldHag - I have nodded along to every single one of your posts. You are 100% correct in that without increased productivity, nothing will improve and everything will get worse.

It also saddens me that so many won’t see the bigger picture and how it connects to the issues they see in their everyday lives. They would prefer to blame immigrants, youths or working people who don’t have time to get involved in ‘big society’ or ‘care in the community’ projects (which is what their taxes should be paying for).

They will accept being taxed till they pop whilst watching society get worse as long as their little street is marginally ok. Mind you any chance their football team may change owner, they’ll be on the streets and complaining to their MP!

I’m going to write to my MP.

Driving along the M25 and M3 yesterday and completely depressed and disgusted by the amount of rubbish strewn along the roadsides.

Why can't the inside lane be closed off with cones at say between 2am and 4am and cleaned up? The answer is, of course, cost. Isn't it awful we are supposedly a first world country and can't afford this?

Also, now that smart motorways with constant TV monitoring are a thing, why can't drivers who throw litter out of their windows be identified and fined? Again, cost.

Gets me down!

It's pointless to make this a politically divisive issue - it's a matter about which all political parties should be concerned - and united. They represent voters on every side who either litter and don't care about the country and the mess its in - or who are horrified and hate the mess but just can't agree on the solution. I would say that the solution has to begin in the teaching establishments - and should be rolled out across the country: good behaviour, consideration of others, respect for your fellows around you - good manners and treating each other well - these are the bedrocks of society. Flinging insults from either side of the political divide gets us nowhere. But there's no plea from any politician to push for school lessons or office seminars based on what a good citizen should be - I'm not talking woke or politically correct or political factions of any sort which would only toxify - just simply daily responsibility and behaviour in public and how you treat people and how you'd like to be treated. Consideration, kindness, good manners - respect. You could change the world for the better if that was done successfully. As it is, probably over half of the nation need to be re-educated.

It's really sad, isn't it. Really sad.

Thank you, and I'm glad to know there are at least some people who see the wider picture and make the same observations and are pressing their MPs for the changes needed. I wish there were more of us, though, then it might actually happen. 😔

Saw a postcard today which sun's it up. Had a union jack on & said underneath " what a fucking state" thought that said it all..!!

I do agree with you @Sarrho3 but it also starts at home. I used to take my son to football and stand at the touchline with all the other families. At the end of the match the grass was strewn with discarded plastic bottles, chocolate papers, crisp packets - many of them dropped by the spectators. I was chatting to a lad's granddad - he was eating chocolate eclairs and was just dropped the wrappers on the ground one by one as he chomped! While schools should be doing this I think adults need educating as well. After all it's fully grown adults who are tipping stuff out of their car windows without a care in the world.

I do agree with you @Sarrho3 but it also starts at home

I agree 100%. School can only do some much, it's my job as a parent to make sure my kids understand basic values and courtesy.

There's nothing wrong with kids being exuberant and noisy, but the littering, antisocial behaviour and lack of thought for others around them is quite depressing. Not sure we help with being so child-centric at times and challenging teachers who are trying to maintain discipline.

Very laudable but takes the local council off the hook, and that is happening on a larger scale all over the UK. We are saying "I give up, the people in charge are rubbish, I'm gonna do something myself"
That doesn't fix it, just makes your little piece of the UK a little better.

But why should the council do it? They can't keep up because of all the feckless shits that are throwing stuff out of their car windows. It is a societal problem. Lack of respect for property, environment, your neighbour etc etc. It is also true that the more that it is left to deteriorate the more accumulates. If you keep your locale clean and tidy, it is less likely to become a pit. We have lost our concept of societal responsibility.

Regarding what you said about no longer having anyone to represent us politically - it's true. No one seems to have the understanding that people need hope - a path ahead to be able to improve their lives - not a continual struggle to even sustain the status quo.

I’m hearing more positive stuff from a press conference right now with EU and U.K. Ah a nice change for once

We drove from the West Midlands to Cambridge yesterday and I was horrified to see the amount of rubbish accumulated along the verges of the A14. I wanted to leap out with a bin bag and do my bit.. but there was mile after mile 😥

Yes @MarshaBradyo it does seem like a positive step

I agree. I also wonder whether it would be a good idea for some police (yes I know they're very busy) occasionally stopped and charged someone for littering on the motorway. It makes the local press, and perhaps some people stop littering.

I'd be happy if the police stopped and charged people for anything really. I've seen police cars (not on blue lights) merrily drive past groups of thugs vandalising a bus shelter (breaking the glass etc) or ignoring some grafiti-ing a shop front. If they can't be bothered with"real" crimes like that, there's no hope of them bothering with litter!

You should visit Scotland...