Chris Maclean: Slaughter in the garden...

I am not a fatalist but, frankly, there are times when things are stacked in a particular way and you are powerless to change them.

As I am writing this one of our painters, decorating upstairs, has let me know that a neighbour's dog has escaped into their garden and is brutally slaughtering their chickens. We can see the dog ravaging the birds but can do nothing to stop the bloodshed. The painters continue to paint ignoring the clouds of feathers.

It is beyond our control.

I have discovered that through some hideous misunderstanding there is a website exhorting the child-friendly nature of the Railway Hotel ~ an image I have sought to repress. It is hard enough tolerating the few children who do visit, as previous blogs bear witness, but for a group to actively promote this is very upsetting.

But sadly it is beyond my control.

This morning I had another look at the "simple one page form" which I am required to complete concerning my rubbish. It seems that from October 30 we are compelled to review our waste disposal methods, to 'pre-treat' our rubbish destined for land-fill and then we must recycle elements of it. This is excellent news for businesses like ours that recognise our responsibility to the planet. We've started making inroads in our energy bills and we realise our rubbish is another area for consideration. We are socially responsible licensees and citizens.

What we have here, currently, are two bins that cost me around £18 a week to dispose of. Now I am encouraged to sort glass and cardboard from other matter and dispose of them in separate bins. This is excellent stuff and to be applauded. Gladly we will support it. It seems a very positive initiative. Except this is going to require at least two new bins which will cost an extra £600 a year and be collected more frequently than we can fill them. How can this be efficient? Just to make sure we are encouraged to recycle there are new financial penalties if we don't comply. What a curious way to encourage us to help the environment. Make us pay more under threat of more penalties.

I want to protest loudly at the unfairness of it but the truth is dawning.

Yet again it is beyond my control.