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There was recently an accident near my house. Sadly it turned out to be fatal for one of the people involved. A lot of family & friends of the deceased have left flowers and messages by the site.
That was now some weeks ago and the flowers are, well, they've gone rotten and look shabby.
I'd like to tidy it, but, what's the soonest its acceptable to remove them?
straight after the funeral (whenever that is/was) ?
right now?
a month or two?
a year after it happened?
never?
Talk to your Local Authority. They all have policies and will remove flowers after a period of time. Let them deal with it.
I would try to speak to the family
If you go out and clean it up, you will upset people.
It was very thought provoking working in Vauxhall recently when a small memorial appeared on the morning of 16th January outside the office I was working in.
I would try to speak to the family
No idea who they are.
Besides, it is not just the family who left flowers.
I say leave it. It cant look that bad and I am sure the family will be upset if you move them.
Yep, just email your Local Authority who will have a 'roadside tribute policy' and politely inform them that the tributes have begun to deteriorate. They should deal with the family and either remove them or ask to family to renew them, for the period specified in the policy.
Do it at night and over a week or so, take a bit away at a time. No one will notice.
Do it at night and over a week or so, take a bit away at a time. No one will notice.
Or don a hi-viz coat & work boots and do it during the day.
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Sorry for inconveniencing you OP. It wont affect your house price will it.
I would try to speak to the family
Really ??
You're coming at this the wrong way. Show some compassion. Nip down and perk it up a bit with a selection of teddy bears and some wind chimes
I think the OP poses a fair question. There's a lampost just down the road from us where a motorcyclist was killed a few years ago. On the anniversary quite a large number of bunches of flowers appear, (fair enough) and they just remain until rottern and all the wrappings blow away.
So,what started off as a nice floral tribute turns into a compost and litter memorial. Not the way I'd like to be remembered.
I personally dont get it, people wanting to put flowers where their family member died horribly.
Plus then their is the environmental issue of all the plastics etc.
Bin them I say, you can almost gurantee that the people who put them there in the first place will not come back and tidy up after themselves
If you want it to look better but dont want to offend, remove the current stuff as it dies and replace with a single small bunch of flowers yourself as a mark of respect, then when they die you can remove them too.
+1 ^
A difficult one but I'm happy that I pay my proper percentage of tax (not like a famous singer who doesn't then appears on a charity show to improve their exposure for their re-union tours and CD sales or a sycophantic idiot politician who defends him to try and gain votes), as does my partner and we pay council tax so I think if something did happen we could leave it to the council (of any place in the country) to tidy up flowers that we may leave.
Anyone else doing so is protecting their property prices/being a NIMBY. The council, by default are the respectful third party that are there to handle such things, killed pets, RTA debris etc etc.
Anyone else doing so is protecting their property prices/being a NIMBY.
Well the OP didn't mention anything to do with property prices so quite why you are bringing that up is beyond me.
As for the dilemma, well once the flowers are rotten then I'd say you are free to tidy up and get rid of them.
Thats what the council is there for.
Imagine a vehicle drives past with one of the friends or family members in.
Think of the two scenarios and how the person in the car may react or relay a phone call in one of those scenario's.
Nothing.
Wow, the [i]horafactor[/i] sure came good on this one.
I don't get why people leave the plastic on. At least flowers will rot to nothing eventually, whereas the plastic won't.
I've seen people planting bulbs at a rural crash site instead - makes a more permanent reminder and looks a lot better.
Wow
I know. You love me.
Seriously the local council is there for road not been cleaned for a while (it happens), dead pets/road kill, etc etc. You can get straight through from their reception switchboard and they'll do it quickly. I've done this before. Its what they are paid for and ours (Trafford) are bloody good/ontop of things like this.
You're coming at this the wrong way. Show some compassion. Nip down and perk it up a bit with a selection of teddy bears and some wind chimes
You forgot the kiddies twirly windmil thing
Just to spruce this up..... why leave flowers at the side of the road etc.... it distracts motorists leading to more dangerous driving.....
/hides
[i]I personally dont get it, people wanting to put flowers where their family member died horribly.[/i]
Me neither, so I don't do it. Like a lot of things, really.
Plant a tree there? Preferably a fast growing big growing variety.
What could possibly go wrong with a big solid tree at a known acident blackspot?
why leave flowers at the side of the road etc.... it distracts motorists leading to more dangerous driving.....
If you had a plaque at every place that someone died on a road I think people would really sober up their driving?
Plant a tree there? Preferably a fast growing big growing variety.
On Woodhead you'd have to rename it Woodhead forest
There is a tombstone next to the road on Eastern Road coming into Portsmouth, i'm guessing the person can't actually be buried next to a main road but always a surprise to a grave stone there.
If you had a plaque at every place that someone died on a road I think people would really sober up their driving?
Just leave nothing - you dont send flowers to a hospital when someone dies there or even think about leaving a plaque. They are no longer of this world and its a time to rejoice in their life rather grieve over their death!
Wow, the horafactor sure came good on this one.
It's not just him, you know. What do you think is going through someone's mind when they hang a bag of dogshit from a tree? "we pay council tax. The council, by default are the respectful third party that are there to handle such things"
(I've deleted the what's this country coming to old man's rant I was about to post)
Wait to the flowers are dead then bin the lot. Litter.
hang a bag of dogshit from a tree
I guess that means you remove these from trees then?
What are you paying your council tax for? It is normal to pay for a set of services and receive a reasonable standard/set of services you know....strange concept.
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Ha 😆 I'm going to kill you comrade binners
hang a bag of dogshit from a tree
Some people like to remember where their dog had a shit ?
Just to clear up...
I quite like the tree idea.
House prices hadn't even crossed my mine.
It's not an accident blackspot as far as I know.
The flowers are attached to the remains of a normal red triangle type road sign (which is now at 45deg without the board), which used to warn of a slippery road. I presume the council will reinstate the sign at some point.
Binners wins the thread.
It's litter what ever the sentiment. Insist that the authority responsible deal with it. It's worse in rural area as they tend to be tidier (generalisations always have exception so don't bother objecting?)yet people feel its ok to nail flowers wrapped in plastic , toys and plastic tat to trees. They then get upset when the tree needs to be removed. I sympathise with the loss, but I didn't feel the need to litter the countryside when mates have died on the roads.
Yet another example of personal selfishness overriding common sense and social responsibility.
Last year I rode my bike past the spot my friend was killed a few years earlier. All the water bottles etc that had been left had gone. It made me feel sad that there was now no sign of what happened.