| Ice cream vans in the park
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From Martin F
Thursday, 10 April 2008
I have been informed that many mothers with children have been complaining about the ice cream van. Well, they and you will just have to get used to it.
You may remember that on the 6th September last year on the Forum, the relevant Calderdale official was quoted as saying, in relation to the new contract (now in force) that: ”We will make sure some safeguards are written in next time”, You may have thought that the contract would now contain some provisions (new in essence) that it did not contain before, since it seems obvious that if you include "written in next time" it means that they are not present at the time of writing of that statement. You would be wrong. According to the relevant official this does not. What he has said to me is:
"The new licence which comes into effect on 1st April 2008 states ;
"Any vehicle must comply with any conditions prescribed by the Department of Transport ".
The above provision is what has been "written in" this time. Nothing new, merely a statement of the obvious, i.e. compliance with statutory regulations already in force, something that all drivers have to do already.
In addition, the relevant official has included in the contract a plan with the approved site of the van marked. Guess what, this is where, to my knowledge, it has always been. When he told me that a site had been specified for the van, I was rather hoping for a different position, away from the entrance to the children’s playground, and said to him:
I shouldn’t see the van right opposite the entrance to the children’s playground?”
He replied, without answering my direct question: “No, It shouldn’t be next to the entrance”.
Can anyone remember the van being right next to the entrance?
Well done, Calderdale!
In addition, in respect to the fact that myself and others have witnessed the van running its engine when there are no customers around, you will be pleased to know that Mr Manfridi has told his staff to turn off the engine when they are not serving ice cream. "Thank you" Mr Manfridi. However, as you will have observed on many occasions, the person in the van simply ignores this instruction.
I have asked the person in the van to turn his engine off when he is not serving, I was ignored. If more people ask, maybe the instruction from the boss of Royd Ices will be heeded, but
Don't hold your breath (sorry, I mean do hold your breath).