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‘Speaker’s Corner’ aims to provide Melbourn residents the opportunity to express their
views on issues affecting them and those around them. Whether relating to the
council, policing issues, or the local environment, feel free to make your point.

If you would like to become a regular contributer click here.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

One of the problems to come out of the 20mph ‘discussion’ was the constant use of multiple aliases. While there is no actual problem with using an alias, there is a problem in the use of more than one, used by a number of people to distorte the figures for and against the scheme.

If anybody is found to be using multiple aliases, within one post, an email will be sent to them offering the opportunity to change their alias. If there is no response their IP address will be blocked and all comments removed.

A good ol’ moan!

Everyone gripes and grumbles about something, whether it’s waiting too long in a queue, missing post or poor restaurant service.

But apparently although we enjoy a good moan, when it comes to complaining we British all too often shy away from confrontation. Partly because we don’t like the hassle, or we don’t think it will do any good. Perhaps we don’t want to be seen as the ‘moaning’ Victor Meldrew, or simply don’t know how or who to moan to. Most of us won’t make a complaint, no matter how badly we’ve been mistreated.

Yet complaining is straightforward, so why do we consider it too much trouble?

It is a means for us to assert our rights and stand up for ourselves. If a product doesn’t live up to standard, we should be entitled to a refund. If we are financially inconvenienced there should be compensation. Perhaps we should simply take the satisfaction of telling a company that their service or product is not good enough – complaint is our means to getting what we deserve.

If nobody complains about bad service, poor products and unfair treatment then nothing will change; the manufacturer will keep rolling out inferior goods and companies will keep treating their customers with contempt.

On the door step

Melbourn is a great village – it has a lot to offer, but it does have its faults. We offer this space for locals to ‘gripe’ and ‘grumble’ or just make an observation. Feel free to point out problems with speeding traffic, intimidating youths, littered streets, holes in the roads, overhanging branches, dog mess or problems with the councils, (not just the Parish but also the District and the County). The list can be endless – no doubt we can all think of one or two.

One of our biggest problems is the assumption that somebody will already be dealing with the ‘situation’. A neighbour perhaps has let the authorities know or the appropriate authority has been patrolling the street and seen the problem. A good example of this, was at a local meeting recently, I was amazed to listen to someone venting their anger at the Police. Why hadn’t they resolved a problem that was affecting him, he was asking. As it turned out, the Police were unaware of the situation – because they hadn’t been informed. The Police have their faults (lots), but they also need the help of the public to identify problem hotspots. As do the local councils, no point expecting them to know where there are potholes, bad lighting, overhanging bushes or disturbances in the village. In the real world there is not a ‘copper’ standing on every street corner or some official walking every path and road checking for problems – much as we feel there should be (I know! ‘We pay enough’, I hear you say!).

If you do have an issue and you want to tell someone about it, pick up the phone and let them know. Alternatively, put your complaint or problem on this site. Somebody in authority WILL be looking at it, we will make sure of that. As this site is open for others to leave their comments, someone may already have the answer your looking for.

You DO NOT need to leave your real name on the site, a username is fine. We do ask you to fill out the form with correct details, but you can be assured your details are not revealed to anyone.

We hope to feature many of the issues in the Melbourn magazine, so everyone in the village, not just those lucky enough to have the internet, will be able to get to know what’s going on. If you know someone with a problem but without access to the internet then why not help them by putting their problem here.