To expect my L.A to have recorded messages with proper diction?

That is the local accent where you are is it not? and bear it!!

I was the voice of my workplace's answerphone for many years. Of course my diction was perfect. I was pushed into it because some of my Yorkshire colleagues saw my residual Geordie twang as posh.

Our LA is moving away from telephone communication and some things (eg commenting on their latest far-reaching plans for housing development) can only be done online. Which is very wrong, imho.

My L.A. gives no options of phoning, everything goes into a black hole of emails. you usually need a reference number or some other information I don't have to get through the form so the only way to make contact is to use the general complaints form. The only way of talking to someone is to phone the switchboard and say you are desperate to talk to someone as you have a serious problem and sometimes this works.

We're very fortunate here, we can easily get in touch with our Parish Council and they respond really quickly. I once rang to complain about tripping on an uneven asphalt path. The guy I spoke to was very helpful and thanked me for bringing it to their attention as he knew exactly the spot I was talking about. Turns out he couldn't get the Local Council to do anything about it when HE complained. However, because a member of the public (me) said wouldn't it be awful if an old lady or someone with sight problems tripped over and sued them, he was happy to pass my complaint on. The Parish Council filled the crack temporarily with cement the following day and a permanent repair was carried out a couple of months later by the Local Council.

They (Parish) always respond pretty much immediately to litter bins/poo bins full and the little pick up truck comes round every day of the week to empty bins.

Wish Local Councils could be relied upon like this!

Charleygirl, apparently you can phone your local --overpaid, meeting obsessed, non achieving--) council on either 0843 504 3730 or 020 8863 5611

I have not tried either of these numbers, so cannot vouch for them.

It might well be that if you were optimistic enough to try to contact the council using one of these numbers, it might trigger an alarm somewhere that results in the men in white coats appearing on your doorstep.

Yes, yet another Tory/Labour/Other Party Of Your Choice plan to deal with dissenters/ordinary people/older people/younger people/...................

GrandmaMoira your L.A cannot leave the only means of communication to be via email, they have a sort of duty to provide access to all service users, have a look on their website, they may be trying to hide it, but you should find a telephone number there somewhere.

Parish councillors are , as far as I understand and certainly in our village, unpaid local people who devote their time and energy to caring for their community.
Ours empty the bin in the children's play area, pick up the rubbish round the village, yes even the dirty nappy someone kindly left in the playing field?.
I don't think they can be compared to District councils at all.

I would rather hear a "normal" voice than someone over pronouncing with a plum in their mouth.

Exactly gillybob. What is 'proper diction' and who dictates what it is? You only have to listen to the strangled vowels of old films of the 40s and 50s to realise how much language pronunciation and use has changed.

No, Luckygirl, I wouldn't mind at all if it was spoken in the local accent!

There are times when I am grateful for my tinnitus it masks a lot of verbal nasties............

I agree about haitch. It is not difficult to learn 'there is no h on h' or 'it is the only letter with a spelling - aitch. The simplest thing to teach and learn.

I rang our Council yesterday to speak to someone about pest control. We have wasps going into the outside wall of our house. Presumably they're nesting in the cavity wall.
I got the usual press 1 bla bla....press 2 bla bla. After pressing 1 I got an automated recording..'You are 20 in the queue ~ please hold your call is important to us'.
20mins later 'you are number 10 in the queue -please hold etc' by now I was shouting down the fone. Then the blasted fone cut off . I rang again....'you are number 19 in the queue. In total I was on the fone 58mins before I spoke to a human being. Mission accomplished she said "Do you know you could have done this online?"

nobody talks propa like what we do these days

The hospital I have to phone all too frequently has a recorded message which says 'iff you know which number you hrrequirrre' which sounds absolutely hrrrridiculous!

Just had a letter from the local County Court this morning asking "Was the parents married when the child was born?"

I must be lucky. My local council ( New Forest) is very good with refuse collection of all sorts ( we still just use 2 bags- black for rubbish, clear for recycling) and it even operates a text reminder for the monthly glass collection to be entered into a competition to win vouchers for regular participants. I don't use their paid for garden service collection as I make my own compost.

Thanks NanKate- it's raining here and your comment brightened my morning.

I've also phoned them regularly (especially during election time when I was an agent) and always speak to someone helpful immediately. Also, if I email them, it's responded to usually the same day or the next. Maybe my large council tax bill reflects the service I receive!

So many people on T.V presenters included end an 'ing work with 'ink - example something becomes something.

Yes Jangeo44, drives me mad. Nothink, somethink, where does the K come from? Also PROPLY instead of properly.

I phoned Devon County Council regarding a drainage/road issue and was told someone would ring me back - in 6 weeks! Suffice to say haven't heard another thing from them.

Kerry on Emmerdale drives me mad! 'sum-n' something 'le-n' letting 'ge-n' getting etc. Grrrrrrr.

The diction on this is excellent Phoenix considering its from Australia

Sloppy speech patterns many adopt are unfortunately todays norm. Do we have to mimic someone else? and without a doubt TV has a lot to answer for.
Late night chat shows? where 'did' some of those persons interviewed receive their education.?
Not just sloppy speech but over use of a word and irrelevant to the subject.
Quote 'I would be ''like''? thank goodness they feel like they do .Taken from a g n post.
Amazin!!