RESIDENTS PETITION AGAINST PAVING STONE REMOVAL
Between 30 and 32 people have so far signed a petition calling for the preservation of an uneven paving stone in Withering High Street.
The petition, which has been available in the saloon bar of The Roebuck for the past week, has been drawn up in protest at Froghill Council's plan to rip up the paving stone and put in a new Japanese replacement.
The petition has been organised by the Save Our Local Indigenous Paving Stones from Imminent Sabotage and Mutilation (SOLIPSISM) pressure group, which hopes to get over 63 signatures from concerned local people.
Group spokesman Alistair Leafmold told the Observer : “Withering is a picturesque and historic English village. And we want to keep it that way.
“If the Council is allowed to continue with this policy of blatant vandalism, wantonly replacing our local paving stones with pre-fabricated Japanese varieties, it won’t be long before the centre of our village loses all its character and starts looking like downtown Tokyo.
"What next, I ask you? Sushi in the Weeping Willow Tearooms? Sumo wrestling in the village hall? People committing hara kiri on Withering Green?
“Not that I’ve got anything against the Japanese," he added.
SOLIPSISM plans to present its petition to the Council at the end of the month.
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27/03/07 @ 08:23