Yet another ramble...sigh..! (-:
Thanks for taking the time to consider my thinking Howard. I get where you are coming from in relation to unfortunate nationalistic tenancies of some, apparently it affects all tribes of many types and variations of political values, as recent evidence seems to suggest, I suspect examples may not be necessary....?
I do believe there will exist English nationalists too, again perhaps no examples required..?
As a Scot, I am pleased that those in our local government were able to retain water company ownership in the public sector, but I suspect they too may well have water authority records of sewage pollution relative to seemingly greatly increased rainfall on occasion, which could otherwise perhaps have overwhelmed sewage treatment plants.... Now wither investment in sewage treatment plants was limited as the result of govt priorities elsewhere or not...I have no real idea, but as best I know at least it seems the Scottish water industry not turned over to "investors" who seem likely to prioritise seeking to make profit...?
Saw on the news recently where there was currently a large scale land management process involved around the banks of Loch Katrine, relative to peat coverage in the area which may be down to climate change, thus it seems there is some investment on going as opposed to the delayering and contracting out that Scottish Water seem to have been involved in over the last couple of decades or so..?
I was also informed that rather a lot of Scottish water is funnelled through increased capacity pipework down to England, Trent Water being one such authority sending the cheques to Scottish Water...?
For sure I think it would be great for the sea and rivers to be clean enough for swimmers and fishermen, but if as it seems that might not even be the case in areas of Scotland.... Hmm..?
I suspect much like in so very many areas of life, that this country just can not afford so very many of the luxuries, or even day to day levels of expectation which we perhaps grew to so readily accepting as deservedly our right, while it seems so very much was built upon some degree of indebtedness...?
Living in what was once a smallholder pic farming community, where the pig farmers would go round the lanes behind the local city restaurants in the early morning, picking up pre-arranged bins of food waste, take it back to the smallholding and boil it in a large vat, prior to feeding it to the pics, you can imagine the smell...? Following on from that, the pic poo was gathered up in a large tank, the contents of which was later sucked up into a mobile sprayer towed behind a tractor, and sprayed over the local fields as fertiliser .... NO, it was not a smell like the aroma of boiling food waste as I remember it when I first came to live here in the 70`s, but the pig poo left an imagined taste in the mouth..!!! The pig poo as fertiliser increased the quantity of hay made available from the acreage, a process which was no doubt helped along once the hay was harvested, and then turning the fields over to beef cows to graze and spread some more poo of a different sort over it in the Winter months.... So a pretty full on cycle of life for the small holders hereabouts....But then that whole way of life like so many, either in or around the city and beyond has just disappeared...No doubt the eventual nail in the coffin of local pig farming came about as the result of foot and mouth..? As for winners and looser` the housing estate that grew ever closer to the pic farms in the seventies will have been pleased, neither for the pigs to be heard calling to be fed, or for the smell of their food and eventual poo...???
Now whether housing estates or cold water swimmers rights can and should either take priority over other fundamentals in life, or not...there are so many costs to be considered that it seems likely few if any ever will...?
Me..? I have had to replace my household septic tank arrangements in line with ever evolving regulation, the cost of which could cover my average water bill (incorporated in council tax payment in Scotland) for many a decade.... I ain`t complaining, about cold water swimmers, even though their expectations may be far in excess of a sum many of them might care to pay were it possible to match their desires to swim in clean water might be put to them reasonably..? I suspect fishermen at least pay for some permit arrangement to go towards fish management in rivers, streams and even private lakes etc...Hmm..?
I`m potentially as grumpy as anyone might be, but with more than just one stent in my heart... it seems perhaps best not to get too upset... (-:
