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| Russian communal clean up or 'subbotnik' |
On 4th March, at Sudbury on Show, the Sudbury
Society launched the LoveSudbury Campaign.
The aim of this initiative is to encourage people to ‘do their bit’ when
it comes to improving the appearance of the Town. Last week the Group launched its website
which can be accessed HERE.
Apparently this admirable campaign is to some extent motivated by the
perceived shortfall in services that has resulted from central Government cuts to
local authorities. This has caused some
people to criticise the campaign because they say that councils will not resume
services when the current period of austerity is over, and ‘people’s jobs will
be at risk’. This negative approach is
misconceived for a number of reasons.
Firstly, are we to wait until councils have the ability to
start spending again (probably some time in the mid 2020’s on current
forecasts) and simply allow the situation to get worse and worse? I certainly hope not!
Secondly, upright and responsible citizens in all
communities have, even at times of plenty, done their bit for the common
good. How many people do we know who
'just cut that little piece of grass' that is always neglected, or regularly organised
small scale litter picks? Even in the
Soviet Union regular communal clean ups were organised that encouraged a
voluntary approach to civic pride.
Thirdly, demand for public services is infinite. However much money is available there will
always be room for improvement, always more that can be done. Even in the City of London, where support
from business rates from banks and other businesses mean that to some degree
the streets really are paved with gold, there are patches of neglect. Sadly there are few residents around to take
these in hand.
When it comes to our communal environment, there are always
those who say ‘it’s a disgrace, “THEY”
should do something about it.’
What they forget is the actually ‘THEY’ really means ‘US’.
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| Poster advertising a communal clean up |
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