[accyman]

Originally Posted by westendlass

I remember the YTS/YOP schemes back in the eighties Margaret, these were very similar to what you suggest. The unemployed were given a little bit more than their dole money and were taken out fixing paths, patching walls up etc,(my brothers did it). One of my brothers helped to build the BMX track next to Harvey Street, needless to say this is now a scruffy eyesore which has never been maintained since. I do not think these schemes were very popular at the time though and fizzled out.

the problem is as time goes by more and more dreaded health and safety rules are dreamed up that prevent people from contributing or helping to better their area.It wasnt that long ago i was reading about a retired bloke who went out his way to make a bench for walkers to sit on along a canal bank i think it was and he was ordered to break it up or face prosecution from his council.It seems you need a high viz jacket and someone with a clipboard to do anything these days.Rolling your sleeeves up and getting on with the job in question is a thing long lost in the past.

i just remembered while typing this about a bloke who trimmed back some untidy shrubbery infront of his home and was prosecuted for criminal dammage by a council