Why does the horribly-inefficient state take nine years to relocate snails from a major A-road?
Why does the horribly-inefficient state take nine years to relocate snails from a major A-road?
Share:
THERE’S a housing development near me going up at breakneck speed. The builders arrive early each morning and put in a full day’s graft, and consequently it’s taken less than two years to erect several large houses, multiple blocks of flats, a children’s play area and a beautifully landscaped park.
![[Vehicles on a two-lane road.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/300m-safety-revamp-killer-road-276601843.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
No prizes for guessing that it’s a private contractor, for whom reliability and efficiency is the key to turning a profit as soon as possible. Compare and contrast this impressive project with pretty much anything that involves the dead hand of the state.
![[Close-up of a Moorean viviparous tree snail.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2xkwxr3-moorean-viviparious-tree-snail-931778946.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
This week, a headline caught my eye that seemed so ludicrous I had to re-read the article a couple of times to check it was true. “Accident blackspot revamp delayed ten years for snails.”. Yep. The Acle Straight — a 6.8-mile stretch of the A47 near Great Yarmouth in Norfolk — is known to be dangerous for motorists because of water-filled ditches next to the road.
![[Roger Howe, involved in a Central London County Court dispute.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/07914583378-roger-howe-led-central-967037975_fbe177.jpg?strip=all&w=553)
Campaigners successfully argued it should be made into a dual carriageway, but just as work started in 2015 Brian from The Magic Roundabout was found to be living in the water. So, a year later, scientists working for “government adviser” Natural England started a study aimed at relocating the endangered population of “little whirlpool ramshorn snails”, which was due to finish by 2019 but was then extended to 2025.
![[Jenna Howe outside Central London County Court after a hearing about her father's will.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/07914583378-jenna-howe-outside-central-967037968.jpg?strip=all&w=566)
