by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Basildon Council in Essex had to admit on June 12, 2013 that they have spent £150,000 this year on research into how quickly the borough's grass is growing!
Beware of the gnomes!
A council spokesman commented: 'This is a major and vital piece of work that has to be done in preparation for a tender exercise in 2014'.
Not only are they calculating the speed of grass growth, but also an assessment of obstacles like bollards and pylons (watch out for gnomes!) which may hinder grass cutting efforts in the future!
An outside company was hired and paid the handsome sum of £150,000 (almost US$300,000 give or take a little) to conduct this research.
This is a waste of money for any council in a time of supposed austerity and one can but assume that anyone in the council could have conducted the same kind of research for much less in a couple of days than employing an outside consultancy firm. The latter which generally charge councils through the nose.
When there are so many other causes, so to speak, within a council that could have benefited from this sum of almost US$300,000 it is beyond belief that such a sum was wasted, and there is no other word for it but wasted, on measuring the rate of grass growth and such with regards to a tendering exercise for contracts in 2014.
While staff are being forced to accept pay cuts, while jobs are being cut and services, the council sees it fit to waste such a sum on a futile exercise and using an outside agency to boot.
It would appear that, much like politicians, many council leaders and councilors do not live in the real world but in a parallel universe which is different to the world that we ordinary mortals live in.
© 2013
