North Barrule Three Legs

[hoopsaa]

6 hours ago, HiVibes said:

 

The growing season affects all paths and we have thousands of km but not hundreds of staff on hand, people who complain that all of them are not clear are as thick as Neil Down.

And we advertise this place for hiking.

We have a wonderful network of footpaths, but maintenance of anything doesn't seem high on this government's agenda, they'd rather spend big on something new, which they can then point to as their legacy. 

The government, in its various forms, employs thousands, many of whom seem to be involved in self-affirming bureaucracy and in creating work sheets for the front line staff who used to exist but were let go in order to protect managerial jobs. We are now contracting out some footpath maintenance. 

What do carbon officers actually achieve, in real terms? Footpath officers, dedicated to the upkeep and even extention of the existing network, would produce tangible results, as opposed to feelgood and politically on point waffle.

[A fool and his money.....]

10 hours ago, HiVibes said:

 

The growing season affects all paths and we have thousands of km but not hundreds of staff on hand, people who complain that all of them are not clear are as thick as Neil Down.

We do have many hundreds of staff at the DOI. Sadly most of them are managers which is perhaps the problem. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

[When Skies are Grey V2]

1 hour ago, A fool and his money..... said:

 not enough Indians.

Work permit issues?

[piebaps]

3 hours ago, A fool and his money..... said:

We do have many hundreds of staff at the DOI. Sadly most of them are managers which is perhaps the problem. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

Out of interest, how many and what's the ratio of manager to worker?

[manxman1980]

15 hours ago, La_Dolce_Vita said:

It just reduces the beauty of the hillside.  It is one of the grander views on the island looking south to that hill.  It's not pretty. In other places, such as on Lhergydhoo, years ago, it was much better because the hillside wasn't that picturesque itself.

What makes one hillside more picturesque than another?

[Happier diner]

3 hours ago, A fool and his money..... said:

We do have many hundreds of staff at the DOI. Sadly most of them are managers which is perhaps the problem. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

Have you tried hiring 'Indians' these days?

[Jarndyce]

54 minutes ago, piebaps said:

3 hours ago, A fool and his money..... said:

We do have many hundreds of staff at the DOI. Sadly most of them are managers which is perhaps the problem. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

Out of interest, how many and what's the ratio of manager to worker?

I’d be interested to know that, too - got a link to demonstrate?

[La_Dolce_Vita]

1 hour ago, manxman1980 said:

What makes one hillside more picturesque than another?

It's just about how it looks.

[The Phantom]

8 hours ago, hoopsaa said:

And we advertise this place for hiking.

We have a wonderful network of footpaths, but maintenance of anything doesn't seem high on this government's agenda, they'd rather spend big on something new, which they can then point to as their legacy. 

The government, in its various forms, employs thousands, many of whom seem to be involved in self-affirming bureaucracy and in creating work sheets for the front line staff who used to exist but were let go in order to protect managerial jobs. We are now contracting out some footpath maintenance. 

What do carbon officers actually achieve, in real terms? Footpath officers, dedicated to the upkeep and even extention of the existing network, would produce tangible results, as opposed to feelgood and politically on point waffle.

I'd disagree with that.  It seems this year that a lot of the footpaths have actually had some work done on them.  Certainly some of the Raad ny Foillan bridges, steps and walkways.  I do a reasonable amount of miles on the Coastal footpath between Meary Veg and Derbyhaven.  It needs a bit of work but is generally passable until late summer, when it always gets horribly overgrown - to the point of being a bit of a hazard.  All it would need is a couple of days and a couple of guys with petrol strimmers surely?

On a related note, the fact that you still can't do the the full coastal path due to angry farmers still annoys me.  But with the current relationship between them and Govt, that's not going to change anytime soon. 

[Happier diner]

27 minutes ago, The Phantom said:

All it would need is a couple of days and a couple of guys with petrol strimmers surely?

Yes. For one bit of one path.

Its not that simple these days. Rules about nesting birds and things. Its a big issue with a lot of long distance paths especially in wet summers. We were down in the Wye valley last month where there is a long distance path and lots of it was impassable due to being overgrown.

[The Phantom]

1 hour ago, Happier diner said:

Yes. For one bit of one path.

Fair point.  But it's not the whole path that's like that.  It's just 50m, 50m there.  Probably a total of less than 1k on the whole Douglas to Castletown section. 

[La_Dolce_Vita]

2 hours ago, The Phantom said:

On a related note, the fact that you still can't do the the full coastal path due to angry farmers still annoys me.  But with the current relationship between them and Govt, that's not going to change anytime soon. 

I suppose it's easier to say no than agree to a right of way being created or agree to permitting people to pass along. But given how suspicious, even paranoid, some farmers can be about anything involving government, allowing people to pass is possibly better arranged with an independent organisation.

Do they get angry when people try to cross?

Edited August 13 by La_Dolce_Vita

[A fool and his money.....]

4 hours ago, piebaps said:

Out of interest, how many and what's the ratio of manager to worker?

Anecdotal I know, but I know a fella who's worked on the roads his whole career (on and off) and is just approaching retirement.

He says, and I have no reason to disbelief him, that the workforce is a good bit less than a quarter what it used to be, but the number of managers has more than doubled. I don't know the exact ratio but he says there are considerably more managers than workers.

Incidentally he also said that a large amount of the remaining workers' time is now spent rectifying problems caused by the private contractors who now do a majority of the work (without apparently much quality management)

[The Phantom]

23 minutes ago, La_Dolce_Vita said:

Do they get angry when people try to cross?

I used to have to access some areas not on the public rights of way. Some of the farmers were cool if you went and asked them. Others were jus  genuinely aggro (not quite shotguns and 'get of my land', but not far off. Might have changed now. As with family I don't get out as much as I did. But I doubt it has changed.

[A fool and his money.....]

2 hours ago, Happier diner said:

Yes. For one bit of one path.

Its not that simple these days. Rules about nesting birds and things. Its a big issue with a lot of long distance paths especially in wet summers. We were down in the Wye valley last month where there is a long distance path and lots of it was impassable due to being overgrown.

If you had one or two guys on it from spring you'd soon have most footpaths under control. It really doesn't take long to strim something as narrow as a footpath, especially if they haven't been neglected for years.

Birds wouldn't nest on the footpaths if they were kept under control.

I really don't think comparisons to the UK are helpful either, after a decade and a half of Tory austerity - if the best we can do is equal their public services then we are in the shit.