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Cracks start to show in Victoria Park story, Media blamed for extracting too many stories from town park |
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Oct 8 2010, 03:34 PM
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http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article...articleID=14740The NWN has been sensationally blamed for the cracks in Victoria Park after extracting too many stories from the area. Neighbours have complained to Newbury Town Council that a 300 word update this week is causing local interest in the story to subside. One said: "They've been filling in the cracks every week by regurgitating stuff about the bowling green and football pitch. " Survey experts have measured the wordcount every week since the summer, and found that coverage is growing by 50mm a week. An NWN statement said: "Sod off! It's the town's biggest story since Woolworths closed."
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Newbury's #1 ill-informed internet poster
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Oct 11 2010, 10:58 AM
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The most noticeable thing about the Victoria Park story is how it's becoming clear that we're being "set up" for the survey report.....
First of all, it was noted that we - the people who are actually PAYING for the report - will be provided with full details of the survey "subject to certain legal considerations" - another way of interpreting this is to say that the Council can withhold certain elements of it IF the results might cause a storm of their own. Now we hear that the cracks aren't expanding - at least not last week - "because of recent heavy rain" - which immediately and fairly deliberately, in my view, creates the impression that such cracks as are already there will have been caused by the lack of rain earlier in the year. Never mind that we've had much drier years before, and never mind that we've had plenty of rain over the last month or two - all of a sudden "recent rainfall" has succeeded in stopping the problem in its tracks !
The Council has spun and spun the whole VISION thing for so long now that it's now GOT to be seen to have been a good idea. The Developer needs an underground car park because, without it, there's no space for parking and the development will fail miserably (not that it's exactly a runaway success to date, frankly). I fully expect we'll get a report heavily censored through "legal considerations" - and if we do, you can bet your bottom dollar it will be because neither party can be seen to be at fault and the best way to ensure that is to keep the whole thing secret. That in turn will allow negotiation on how much the Council will contribute to the "repair" of Victoria Park and how much will be considered a "goodwill contribution" from the Developer.
What I do find funny is the asphalt cover over the "goodwill pipe" the Developer laid to the Bowling Green - it's sunk by about an inch since they put it in !
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Nov 5 2010, 06:24 PM
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QUOTE (Iommi @ Nov 5 2010, 03:56 PM) They stop dewatering and the cracks stop moving wider apart... funny that. Actually they were still dewatering last night because I went and had a look at the outfall into the canal.
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Right an injustice - give Simon Kirby his allotment back!
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Nov 5 2010, 07:11 PM
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QUOTE (Simon Kirby @ Nov 5 2010, 06:24 PM) Actually they were still dewatering last night because I went and had a look at the outfall into the canal. Sorry, misinformed; I had heard they had stopped (I was only really trying to draw a comment form user23 anyway! ).
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Nov 5 2010, 07:26 PM
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QUOTE (Simon Kirby @ Nov 5 2010, 06:24 PM) Actually they were still dewatering last night because I went and had a look at the outfall into the canal. QUOTE (Richard Garvie @ Nov 5 2010, 07:19 PM) Costain have told the media that pumping has stopped. "The underground work which necessitated the water being abstracted has now finished and the pipes have been shut off."
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Nov 6 2010, 05:57 PM
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QUOTE (Iommi @ Nov 5 2010, 08:51 PM) Maybe the water that is visible is residual water within the pipe network? Or maybe it is a major conspiracy???? Regrettably, I do think that the delays and the apparent secretive nature (WBC see the results in secret first) adds to the cynicism though. The survey was commisioned and paid for by the Town Concil, not West Berks Council. I do not think that WBC can expect to see the results in order to sanitize them in that case. If NTC do hide the results because of pressure from either Costain or WBC then I would suggest that there should be an investigation into the ethics of the town council. They are or should be independant of WBC and therefore have the right to ask for compensation from WBC as the developers or Costain as the contractors or civil engineers if the survey suggest that the pumping has caused the problem. I am surprised at User 23's comments about the driest summer etc. That really is a red herring but even if that was partially the culprit, it has been compounded by further water extraction. They are, I'm sure, capable of spinning their own web of deceit without help from us.
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Nov 6 2010, 08:31 PM
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QUOTE (Exhausted @ Nov 6 2010, 05:57 PM) The survey was commisioned and paid for by the Town Concil, not West Berks Council. I do not think that WBC can expect to see the results in order to sanitize them in that case. If NTC do hide the results because of pressure from either Costain or WBC then I would suggest that there should be an investigation into the ethics of the town council. They are or should be independant of WBC and therefore have the right to ask for compensation from WBC as the Hi, please trust me, we are independent of WBC and we will not be hiding any results from pressure of Costain or WBC or anybody else. We simply want to know why the Park is in the state it is, and unfortunately it has cost us and therefore the people of Newbury several thousands of pounds to find out why it is in the state we find it. WBC can request to see the results, but they certainly can't insist on seeing them. Regards
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Nov 6 2010, 09:03 PM
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QUOTE (David Allen @ Nov 6 2010, 08:31 PM) Hi, please trust me, we are independent of WBC and we will not be hiding any results from pressure of Costain or WBC or anybody else.
We simply want to know why the Park is in the state it is, and unfortunately it has cost us and therefore the people of Newbury several thousands of pounds to find out why it is in the state we find it.
WBC can request to see the results, but they certainly can't insist on seeing them.
Regards Exactly, and thanks for that honest update. There always seems to be a deal of confusion between the activities of Newbury Town Council and West Berks Council. My last line "They are, I'm sure, capable of spinning their own web of deceit without help from us. " was aimed at WBC and/or Costain not NTC.
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Nov 8 2010, 05:29 PM
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QUOTE (Iommi @ Nov 5 2010, 03:56 PM) They stop dewatering and the cracks stop moving wider apart... funny that. Still dewatering today. The outfall pipe is attached to the stanchion of the Parkway Bridge.
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Right an injustice - give Simon Kirby his allotment back!
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