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twowheelsgood

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Everything posted by twowheelsgood

  1. twowheelsgood
    Yes, I'd have to agree about the photo, it's just an ego trip for her.
  2. twowheelsgood
    I think we all know the answer to that one. Despite the tens of £millions poured into this service, why are they only able to say 'Practice is starting to improve'. Good grief.
  3. twowheelsgood
    Nearly 3 weeks the cycle path has been closed off and high double screened fencing erected to hide the remedial works ... or perhaps not. I popped my camera above the screens to record, well, not a lot of work done really, but then, this is BBLP direct labour. What a debacle this whole thing has been.
  4. twowheelsgood
    Part 2 of the ongoing 'you just can't make it up' saga of this debacle - following on from the March remedial works (which didn't seem to achieve much, save for making things worse, including leaving open trenches in the cyclepath), local St James residents have had another letter from BBLP, advising that they will 'be delivering the remaining remedial works required for the scheme'. Works will commence on Tuesday 6 June and will take approximately NINE WEEKS to complete (the original contract was 16 weeks) - that's some sort of remedial list. They claim it will be at 'no additional cost to Herefordshire Council or the taxpayer' but I cannot believe that. This was a complete failure on Harrington's watch - people with huge experience of cycling infra (certainly not BBLP) advised him it would fail but he would not listen and he paid the price. However, we are left with something that wasn't asked for, was changed from the agreed scheme with stakeholders and does not work, even when or if it's built properly. There have been numerous very close misses and several collisions at the Cantilupe Street junction, albeit that's down to poor driving, but it should have been designed out and should never have got through the safety audit. It's cost an obscene amount of our money and stands as a folly to those who put political aspirations before common sense.
  5. twowheelsgood
    This was budgeted at £55k in the linked report, so more than twice over budget before it's even started ... how do Property Services get it so wrong? Was this an open tender, or is there only one local builder?
  6. twowheelsgood
    Small things that make a huge difference to the usability of public transport - this can only be a good thing. More grass roots, common sense stuff is what the County needs.
  7. twowheelsgood
    Indeed, he was an extremely good Ward Councillor who did a huge amount of work. He was elected to the City Council and will no doubt be supporting his District Council successor as best he can.
  8. twowheelsgood
  9. twowheelsgood
    No, I think you're right. I've also realised that Phillip Price is making a comeback (elected for Golden valley North) - talk about getting the old band back together - it's straight back to a decade ago!
  10. twowheelsgood
    So who wants power enough to jump into bed with the conservatives to give them a majority? History says the Lib Dems - 6 out of the 12 elected would be enough. Will they stick together as one party or not or will some of the so-called 'independents' succumb?
  11. twowheelsgood
    Crikey, I've just spotted the name Harry Bramer in the list of those elected - former (and some might say controversial) 'Portfolio Holder for Contracts and Assets' from around 2015, responsible for, amongst other things, the great farm sell-off. No doubt he will be looking to make his mark in the new administration.
  12. twowheelsgood
    I would expect the security to be paid for by the mayfair, and I can see the logic for it, but private security on public streets does present some difficult (legal) questions about responsibility and liability.
  13. twowheelsgood
    For the first time ever, I am considering not voting. I had high hopes of this administration, I naively perhaps thought they might change Hereford for the better, but it's been quite the opposite in an accelerated manner. It's not only the failing infrastructure and wasted money, but people's lives affected by woeful failures of social services.
  14. twowheelsgood
    Another from the 'you just can't make it up' department of Herefordshire Council - local St James residents have had a letter from BBLP, advising that "we are currently carrying out remedial works following a quality review of the initial works undertaken as part of the cycle contraflow scheme". St Owens Street will once agin be closed for night works from 27 March. Perhaps if the work was done in daylight, it might just be to a better standard? It couldn't be any worse - with over 40 years experience in construction, this £1.2m scheme is some of the worst work I've ever seen. Let's not forget this was a scheme costed at £254k, that somehow ended costing nearly 500% more, yet less than 3 months after completion it's being dug up again. The Council's response to complaints is to the effect they can't do anyhting about it, BBLP are autonomous. No one elected them. The current administration came to power on the promise of a fundamental review of BBLP, but, like the traffic lights promise, nothing has happened. As the great John Lydon once said “Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?”
  15. twowheelsgood
    Agreed, and I don't imagine for a moment that it will be done to the same standard and his successor will be left to take the flack after May. There's a certain irony in the fact that they've created exactly the same 'trip hazard' by raising the tarmac level in St Owen's Street, despite all of the agreed drawings showing the stepped kerb was to be maintained. Pedestrians now use the cycle path as an extension of the narrow pavement.
  16. twowheelsgood
    Sniping at the previous administration by Cllr Harrington is all well and good, but at least the work was done to a very high standard with very high quality materials. Under his watch, we have the opposite with the St Owen's St cyclepath, with some of the shoddiest and sub-standard construction I've seen with 40+ years experience in construction. Who's he going to blame that on?
  17. twowheelsgood
    £4.47 million for the guaranteed 12 month min period. Wow.
  18. twowheelsgood
    We've been here before. In 2007, the Edgar Street Grid (ESG) masterplan was formally adopted. This was to provide a "unique opportunity to create an exciting and innovative regeneration scheme adjoining the city centre hectare site is expected to take in the region of 20 years to reach completion and once achieved will help to strengthen Hereford’s role as a sub which will add real value to the experiences offered within Hereford City and its wider catchment. The redevelopment of this under utilised 43 hectare site is expected to take 20 years to reach completion and once achieved will help to strengthen Hereford's role as a sub regional foci and regenerate the local economy leading to increased prosperity for the city and county." Well, that plan completely failed, serving only the asset strippers and money men who well and truly took the Council for a ride. Given the dismal failure of this administration to deliver on just about anything, why will this one be any different. What most residents want is just the basics fixed. It's not glamorous, there are no photo opportunities or lucrative contracts for out of county construction firms, but it's actually what we pay our council tax for.
  19. twowheelsgood
    Change in some councillors coming very soon I think. Repairs to roads to make scooters safe to use will take some while longer.
  20. twowheelsgood
    Yes, but all that was promised by the present administration in the run up to the elections. We even had a video by Cllr Harrington extolling the virtues of how well the traffic runs when the lights are broken! And yet ... four years later they haven't done a single thing to change them. In fact, more lights have been added. I've discussed it with my ward councillor - he freely admits BBLP run the highways show (in cahoots with certain officers) and there is nothing elected members can do about it. No one elected BBLP. A roundabout at the end of St Owens was lobbied for instead of the mess we now have - it was designed by Ben Hamilton-Baillie some years ago, it would have worked. It was dismissed by BBLP - I assume they want the ongoing revenue from traffic light maintenance.
  21. twowheelsgood
    "Herefordshire Council will receive £19.9 million to boost local people’s use of public transport with better cycle lanes, improved station facilities and new safety measures for pedestrians." If the appalling £1m+ mess in St Owen's Street is an example of what to expect, then heaven help us. "New safety measures for pedestrians" - simple, resurface all of the existing pavements to a proper standard, it doesn't need consultations, endless designs, and outside consultants who soak up a good part of any funding. Just good quality housekeeping is what's needed - it's not glamorous, Councillors can't cut a ribbon and get a photo-op, but it will win votes (unlike the St Owen's St mess).
  22. twowheelsgood
    Security reasons limit advanced warning, and it was a private visit as such anyway.
  23. twowheelsgood
    Given that it will probably take 18 months to build and commission, where are they going in the interim? Won't that need another station? No mention of that in the supporting documents.
  24. twowheelsgood
    This would be unbelievable, but under the present administration is par for the course. How does a short section of kerb amount to 690m2? And £1.3 million? That's £1884m2 - that's a new build house rate. It's all utter madness, and with our money.
  25. twowheelsgood
    I don't believe more than half the driving population carry blue badges, but that increasingly seem to be the provision - look at the current railway station parking, where half was made over to disabled some while ago, and is set to be 4 out of just 7 spaces remaining under Cllr Harringtons crazy 'transport hub' (with very little transport allowed in it).
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