Wednesday - November 18, 2009

ELL HECK, WHILE i’M WAITING FOR A CALL BACK FROM A ROOFER …. TAKE A LOOK AT THIS.

And ppl, this is all for a few worms and a lizard or two.  Hey, I’m not for the wholesale slaughter of the little things but come on ....

Reading a few comments from readers appear to show that most say why not?  One person thinks this is okay since the worm and the lizard were here first.  ??  Not surprising as these folks also believe their overcrowded island is gonna lead the way and save the planet for the gweens. 

Oh what the hell.  Isn’t it sweet of em that they’re eccentric enough to believe all this stuff? Jeesh.

Misery for commuters as two-month operation to rescue slow worms causes massive traffic delays

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:56 AM on 18th November 2009

For motorists stuck in the tailback, the irony is unlikely to raise a smile.

But the reason for their misery on this busy urban dual carriageway is a painstaking operation by council staff in the grass verges. . . to rescue slow worms.

Local traders are equally unamused.

Indeed, there are fears businesses will go under as the road in Bournemouth is reduced to a single lane for nearly seven miles while the rare reptiles are removed.

The resident slow worms and sand lizards are protected under UK and European laws and they need to be found ahead of £ 26million of roadworks that will destroy their habitat.

Retailers have urged the authorities to postpone the work, which is scheduled to take eight weeks, until after Christmas but this has been rejected because the safety of the reptiles is more important.

Business leaders claim shoppers will be put off visiting the town due to the traffic jams.

Tony Brown, chief executive of the Beales department store, said: ‘It’s daft they are doing this at this time of year. The dual carriageway is choc-a-block for miles but the actual stretch they are using is only about 150 yards.

‘They should be doing it in January-which is the slowest economic time of the year.’

Steve Kent, chairman of the Boscombe Traders Association, said shops had seen a ‘horrendous’ drop in trade due to the work.

David Diaz, Dorset County Council’s project manager for the scheme, said the rescue operation had to be done while the reptiles were hibernating.

He added: ‘We are governed by legislation as to how we treat these species of animals. Some of them are protected by European legislation as well.’

The operation has led to drivers on the A338 facing hour-long delays on a daily basis.

Motorist Melanie Adams, 39, said: ‘Is it worth all this misery to thousands of drivers for the sake of a few slow worms? I went as fast as a slow worm this morning and was an hour late for work.

‘It’s typical of this country to put animals before people.’ Another driver going by the name ‘Irate Commuter’ on a local internet forum wrote: ‘If I dressed in a lizard costume, would I get a police escort through the roadworks? Officials who make these decisions are plain daft, because it doesn’t affect their livelihood and income.’

John Wilkinson, from Amphibian and Reptile Conservation in Bournemouth, said: ‘It can obviously be pretty irritating when you get held up. But Dorset has the most important populations of these species in the country.’

Brits call it a “Tail Back” but I’ve been here so damn long now, I forgot the term we use back home.  Tail Back does work of course, but I find it worrying that I can’t remember our own terms for some things.  Oh well, keeps my mind off the leaky roof and the promised rain has not happened. Yet. 

SOURCE

Posted by peiper     on 11/18/2009 at 09:21 AM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous • UK •  
• Comments (6) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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