Gardening on the suburban verge; $600 please.

[Michaelangelica]

Vergie Garden
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3416/3180983268_b675859617.jpg
Inspired by another family on our street, we’ve recently planted some tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants and herbs on our verge. Why would we do this when we have a perfectly decent-sized back yard for such a garden? Well, the neighbours and their kids love sharing the produce and it greens up the verge while providing us with some home-grown fare. Then there’s the passers-by who come by and pass comment on it as we pick, garden, and hand water. So there’s an element of community about it.

My Italian Father-in-law swore we were crazy because dogs would do what dogs do on it. We give everything a good wash and so far haven’t suffered any ill effects.

Then there’s the laughable situation from the Cottesloe council. Thankfully we don’t live there.

They will require ratepayers to submit a plan, and a $100 permit fee. On top of this, a $500 bond in case the council have to reinstate the verge if said garden should fall into disrepair. Surely the council’s views and resulting legislation don’t represent those of the wider community? Or do they?

Verges: for lawns or lettuces?

Cottesloe’s ‘verge-o-crat’ policy wonks

Home-Grown Lunacy http://alexmillier.com/2009/01/07/vergie-garden/

[purplepear]

Councils approach is on the verge of being silly.

[ecodharmamark]

G'day All

Yes it is a crazy situation, I agree. But is Council fully to blame, or should our litigation-mad society share in the shame?

Picture this: A resident of Cottesloe is out walking one day, turns down a street, ambles past a 'vege-verge', slips on an errant tomato, falls and breaks a hip. Who is the resident going to sue - the grower of the tomato, or the Cottesloe Council who owes a duty of care to the pedestrian? Councils cop it in the neck, every time. Their insurance premiums reflect this, and in turn we pay with increased rates.

Cottesloe (WA, Australia) Council Residential Verges Policy
http://www.cottesloe.wa.gov.au/__data/p ... Verges.pdf (http://www.cottesloe.wa.gov.au/__data/page/416/ResidentialVerges.pdf)

Looks like a reasonably fair policy to me (maybe needs reviewing in order to give equal weight to both food production and 'indigenous plant species'), and if it can be justified that the 'vege-verge' represents a net community benefit, then anyone wishing to establish the same should find themselves in a very strong position to argue for the waiver of fees/charges.

Do not whinge about government, BE the government.

Cheerio, Marko.

[eco4560]

Councils approach is on the verge of being silly.

So does that make someone with a footpath garden a vergetarian?

[purplepear]

:P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P

[newcroft]

Does it makes someone who hasn't planted a footpath garden a vergen?

[Michaelangelica]

LOL :) :) :) :)
To make a point, the edgy gardener could push the council to the brink; to see where their boundaries were?

Thus may he be able to keep his verdure, verdurous,verecund verge?

Otherwise garden on the strip of surrounding garden that outlines the rim of Long Bay Jail?

[milifestyle]

It is ridiculous but Marko has a point... People for some reason will slip on their own babanna skin and try to get money from everyone they can, from the grower of the banana to the concrete manufacturer.

I've posted this here before, but it sounds appropriate to this topic...


Responsibility

"...Have you ever gone to a restaurant, hung up your coat, and noticed a sign warning that the management is not responsible if it gets lost or stolen? Ever read the small print on your airplane ticket? The airline takes no responsibility for any delays or missed connections, and if your baggage is lost, they only have to pay an amount agreed upon at a convention they held in Warsaw in 1955. Park your car in some high-priced garage or lot, and a sign will tell you that management is not responsible for any items lost or stolen from your vehicle. Do those "Not responsible for..." disclaimers bother you? They do me. It seems no one takes responsibility for anything anymore.

A little girl was sent to her room for misbehaving. Sometime later her mother happened to pass by her door and heard her praying. "God, I am stuck up here because of YOU, you know. Last night I prayed for you to help me be a good girl. Well, you didn't, so it's your fault!"

Sounds a bit like the conversation between God and Adam and Eve in the Garden. God asks what's going on, Adam responds by admitting that he ate the forbidden fruit, but then he blames God ("the woman YOU PUT HERE ...") and if that is not enough, he blames her ("SHE gave me some fruit from the tree"). Is SHE responsible? Ask her. Of course not! "The SERPENT DECEIVED ME, and I ate." Genesis does not actually say it, but there must have been a "Not responsible for..." sign on one of the trees in Eden.

Poor Eve - she was only a victim. She could not be held responsible for eating the fruit. Neither could Adam. "The Devil made me do it!"

Adam and Eve's descendants -- thats us guys -- have refined victimization to a fine art. We do not use victimization merely to get off; we use it to cash in. If we trip on our shoelaces and fall flat on our face in the middle of the sidewalk, we sue everybody from the City of Warren to the shoelace manufacturer.

If you want to get rich, invest in victimization. It must be America's fastest-growing industry. Millions make a fat paycheck by identifying victims, representing victims, interviewing victims, treating victims, insuring victims, counseling victims, and, of course, being victims. Not only does it confer absolution for our stupidity and sinfulness, but it allows us to sue for damages. "If you have experienced personal injury," we are assured by the lawyers in their TV commercials, "you may be entitled to compensation." Even if you stepped in front of a car when the light was against you, somebody else should pay.

Victimhood allows us to be blameless, and someone else owes big for what happened. Blamelessness is as American as the Constitution - the Fifth Amendment guarantees that no one can make you blame yourself. That being the case, when something bad happens, it cannot be your fault. It must be someone else's.

You have heard of "no-fault" automobile insurance? "No-fault" elevates victimhood to a more sophisticated plane. Both the guilty and the innocent become victims, and everybody gets to collect.

The restaurant is not responsible for your stolen coat nor the airline your delayed flight nor the garage your burglarized car. And of course, neither O. J. nor Mike Tyson nor the Enron executives are responsible for any of their problems. Neither are YOU responsible. Are you? "The Devil made me do it." Right..."

[purplepear]

The fun stuff is great and the serious stuff is worth consideration but I for one refuse to live in fear of those consequences. We need to take due care but others need to care for themselves. We need to be prepared to loose all and not having much helps.
regards

[Michaelangelica]

The fun stuff is great and the serious stuff is worth consideration but I for one refuse to live in fear of those consequences. We need to take due care but others need to care for themselves. We need to be prepared to loose all and not having much helps.
regards
Nice PP!

A solicitor friend tells me that Australians now sue more than the Yanks!

He has sued the local shopping centre/mall/cave 2-3 times with people tripping over the same piece of broken paving.
The shopping center doesn't seem to want to fix it!

The local council has never won a court case in its life.

[purplepear]

He has sued the local shopping centre/mall/cave 2-3 times with people tripping over the same piece of broken paving.

I was speaking to a bloke a few years ago who was going to sue council over a pavement crack and I asked him if he had told them about it and he said "no they should know these things" Dah!