Jobsworths ride again...

[Gob]

Council planners have banned a grandfather from selling his flowers outside his village home in aid of a children’s charity - in case the colourful displays distract passing driver.



Award-winning gardener Joe Poultney, 69, donates hundreds of pounds made from the sale of his flowers to a local children’s hospice and his village church every year.

But he was stunned when bureaucrats from Stafford Borough Council ordered him to stop selling the plants - claiming the vibrant display distracted motorists.

The pensioner has now been told he must spend £385 to register a planning application for permission to continue selling the blooms outside his home in Barlaston, Staffordshire.

Mr Poultney originally started giving away his plants for free but now charges just £1 for a tray of six.

Despite donating all the money to charity, he was told he needs to register as a business because he has altered the use of his property.

He said: 'This whole episode makes me feel quite sad because I won’t be able to give as much money to the children’s charity and the church as I did last year.

'I have always been interested in gardening and I grow a lot plants in my garden as a hobby now I have retired.

'At first I gave any excess plants I had to other residents in the village and then more people asked me whether I could sell some to them.

'If there were any left, I usually sold them for about £1 for a tray of six. It was never intended to be a business.

'I know the council is worried it might cause problems with congestion on the road, they even told me the colourful displays could distract drivers which could cause accidents.

'I have always asked people to park around the corner where Barlaston Methodist Chapel is and I walk to give them their plants.

'I also donate some money to the church for them letting me use the car park.

'It’s ridiculous, I don’t run a garden centre, it is just killjoy council officials.'

Mr Poultney has even received an award from Barlaston Parish Council for making a valuable contribution to the community for his attractive garden.

He donates his profits to the Donna Louise Children’s Hospice Trust and has received thank you letters from the charity and Barlaston Methodist Chapel.

It takes Mr Poultney, who gardens with his wife Heather, 67, three hours to water his plants as well nurturing their hundreds of seedlings.

Mr Poultney, who has two sons and two grandchildren, added: 'I only really sell the plants at weekends and normally get up to six people coming in a day so I don’t understand why it would cause problems.

'The ironic thing is I won an award two years ago from Barlaston Parish Council for making a valuable contribution to the community for having such a nice, well-kept garden.

'It takes three hours to water the garden every other day and my wife helps me. We spend hours out there every day.'

[Scooter]

Are reporters at the Daily Mail philosophically opposed to getting the other side of a story before publishing their lopsided version, or is it that their brains can't hold that much information?

In any case, it is amazing how they can manage to make even a one-sided account self-contradictory. Grandpa himself gives the reason he was told to stop selling the flowers - because he is illegally carrying out a commercial activity on a property not zoned for it. In applying for a variance, many factors, including the effect on traffic, will be considered, as they would in any application for a variance. And the entire sob story about the proceeds going to charity are completely irrelevant to that determination. If they let him operate a commercial enterprise without a variance, or if they grant him a variance, then anyone else on the street who didn't share his philanthropic motivation could claim the same treatment for themselves. And suddenly what was a residential street becomes a commercial district.

[Gob]

Agreed, but it's still the actions of a jobsworth cunt.

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Ba ... z2SkBBWFaE

[oldr_n_wsr]

Maybe he should set up in the church parking lot.
Just a thought.