Selfsufficientish.com

Just in case any one had not spotted this item on the BBC this morning http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8153073.stm

I do see their point, but the council seems to be very heavy handed.

On a side note - one of the (unproved) objections was that the chemicals could cause asthma. As I get asthma I do feel for them, but why are ASBO not being slapped on all the smokers that stink out halls and doorways?

I can see their point about keeping the area free for safety reasons, but the excuse that they are agrivating another residents asthma is just stupid! If that's the case why don't they issue everyone who uses airfresheners, chemical cleaners and perfumes etc with one too!

I have to agree both ways - the council should have been a bit more human about the issue, but growing plants in a potential fire exit is a tad silly. But they only asked her to move them, and if a complaint had been received from another tenant, they were obliged to act.

On smoking - I'm a smoker who is not allowed (I don't mind that) to smoke anywhere indoors. I can see the sense in that. But what really gets my goat is the number of people who arrive at the pub from a half-mile up the road in their 4x4s and guffaw at the "ho, ho, here's the leper colony" (that's we exiled smokers outside) jokes (and one of whom has a heated swimming pool). They compound this inside the pub by loudly proclaiming the virtues of clean air.

Di**heads like that I could cheerfully strangle - all in the name of the environment, of course.

Mike

I agree - the fire exits should be kept clear.

i can imagine tomato plants making an asthma suffer suffer more.. tomato plants have a strong smell and strong smells often get to me.

this is just media making more of a story...

in reality a woman was growing plants on property not belonging to her and causing a potential hazard, and someone has complained, so she was asked to remove them, which she did. theres not really a story there.

Agree with the consensus - surely the council could have politely informed her that (a) someone had said she was upsetting their asthma and (b) she was blocking a fire escape. Not sure why an ASBO warning would be seen as a preferably alternative!

Gordon Bennett, haven't they got any more swine flu/Michael Jackson cr@p to report on any more?

I was just about to post about this!

An ASBO seems heavy handed really, a visit from an officer with a calm rational explanation would have made more sense.

As for the smell I often have to get off buses and move carrages on trains if someone is wearing too much perfume or aftershave. I wonder if in the same situation I could get a hedgehog boy* an ASBO for wearing too much aftershave.

Or could I get an ASBO for my farts.

* Hedgehog boy means a young man with a spiky hair cut often seen in town centres on a Saturday night wearing the latest fashions.

I suppose it was easier and cheaper for the council to write to her than send someone round. If it were my council tax that was being used, I would prefer the cheapest option. I think she was being a bit silly in just assuming that all the other residents would be happy with the plants in their shared hallway. Why didn't she just have a quick word with her neighbours first? I bet if she had done so, there wouldn't have been any problems at all.

On the subject of asthma, cigarette smoke, hyacinths and perfume are far worse for me than tomato plants.

Zoe

cigarette smoke is the worst for me - when I hear people saying how unfair it is that they cant smoke in pubs etc, i get narky as the smoke has been keeping me out for years

as it is, with the hot weather back along, i have had to avoid going to the folk sessions in my local pub, as they have the door open, and the smoke comes in from the garden.. and then i get to cough all night

red wrote:
as it is, with the hot weather back along, i have had to avoid going to the folk sessions in my local pub, as they have the door open, and the smoke comes in from the garden.. and then i get to cough all night

that is a shame. we aren't as strict with the no smoking rules here as they are in California - you arent allowed to smoke within 30ft of a doorway or window. its a shame that the spirit of the law doesn't seem to be appreciated. i used to work in a shop and the amount of times i had people stub out their cigarette at the door and coming in puffing out huge clouds of smoke - so i still got a lungful of cigarette smoke!

Sadly the no-smoking rules have backfired a little. If you walk through Swindon town centre now in the evening or lunchtime, the whole place smells of cigarette smoke. The main pedestrian street is quite narrow and with all the smokers hanging around the front doors of the pubs instead of inside, the smoke just builds up in the street. The centre of Swindon is horrible, but then you can't really blame that on the smokers, it always was.

Zoe