FRAG, that nebulous, ill-disciplined, band of political chancers who style themselves as the Formby Residents' Action Group, decided they would do local allotment tenants a one-off 'favour' by paying for waste skips at the Hoggs Hill and Altcar Road sites.
It was seen as an emergency exercise, as with the closure of Formby tip due to Covid 19. refuse had been building up to an alarming level. There were numerous sightings of rats, followed by reports of snakes arriving to eat the rats.
The issue was first raised in late June. So to avoid delay in waiting for a scheduled meeting of the parish council finance group on July 22, a special zoom meeting was arranged for Monday, July 13, with the single item of the allotment issue on the agenda.
The parish council sanctioned spending more than £400, for what they made clear was a one-off gesture of support.
But instead of going for quotes from private skip contractors, who could have delivered a solution within 24 hours, they opted to go down the lugubrious route of contacting Labour-run Sefton Council, who eventually reported that all council skips were already accounted for, either at the beach or at school sites.
Vital time was being lost. Eventually a private skip company was contacted, who duly delivered the skips on August 10. That's 28 days after the Frag-arranged emergency meeting.
By then, so far as the allotment tenants were concerned it was the councillors, as well as the rubbish, who were destined for disposal, with the suggestion that Frag restyle themselves as the Formby Residents' INACTION Group.
