http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article...articleID=14740

The 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."

Cracking story Bofem!

Opinion is split on the matter.

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 !

Breaking news - there's nothing new on the cracks story.

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article...articleID=15019

They stop dewatering and the cracks stop moving wider apart... funny that.

The one of the driest spring and summers for ages is over and the cracks stop growing?

Who'd have thunk it?

I knew I'd draw you out!

I've just got in.

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! ).

http://newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article.aspx?articleID=15019

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."

Maybe somebody forgot to turn the tap!!!

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.

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.

Still dewatering today. The outfall pipe is attached to the stanchion of the Parkway Bridge.

So why are they dewatering when it is meant to have been switched off?

Where did you read they were meant to have finished dewatering?

http://newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article.aspx?articleID=15019

Costain have told the media that pumping has stopped.

Wake up at the back .

It doesn't say that in the article you posted.

From the article above it says:"The underground work which necessitated the water being abstracted has now finished and the pipes have been shut off. "

But they haven't have they, so it looks like the NWN have got it wrong.

Which is why I asked the question, but it seems strange that they would continue to dewater if the work that necessitated it has been finished.

I haven't seen it reported that this work has finished, where did you see it?

From the article above it says:"The underground work which necessitated the water being abstracted has now finished and the pipes have been shut off. "

Again no source. Basically the NWN just made it up didn't they, which goes back to what the original poster was saying.

They might have made it up, but they could have been lied to. Perhaps Cllr Allen could clear this up; to some here it looks suspicious.

"The underground work which necessitated the water being abstracted has now finished and the pipes have been shut off."

- Quote from Newbury News

I'd go with the former as there's no source credited to the statements.

ER, yes...we've already been down this one!

You may speculate, but I have read it in good faith and it seems a strange thing to report. BTW - the dewatering was scheduled to finish in November.

Perhaps they should have sent someone down to check given the whole thing seems to be behind schedule.

It is after all, five minutes walk from their HQ.

Anything to oblige. The water pumping cannot simply be shut off; it needs to be gradually shut-down in an orderly fashion. Althought I agree the conflicting news and reports are a bit frustrating.

I've asked for an update from Costain tomorrow (9/11) and I'll post any reply I get.

Regards

Thank you Cllr Allen, a voice of calm in a sea of chaos!

Hey User. Do you still rent out your house in Park Terrace? Maybe you are in a better position to update us all.

I have some questions the Council might like to answer:

Does the Council not insure against damage to the park's walls and buildings?
Does NTC have a repairing obligation to all of the affected buildings - even the toilet block?
Do any of the Friends of Victoria Park own property affected by the supposed subsidance?
Is the damage to the walls and buildings not a result of tree root damage and collapse after felling?
Couldn't you just have repaired the football pitches with a couple of dumpy bags of topsoil?
How much exactly is the survey costing?
Why is the survey delayed?

I've never owned a house in Park Terrance.

In times gone by having one's own stalker was a sign one had made it in life. The stalker had to put time and effort into being a weirdo, going through bins, hiding outside the house of who they were obsessed with, and so on.

Nowadays all it takes for the lonely to attempt to become a stalker is few chinese whispers and a keyboard and they're away.

The Internet has so devalued the art of stalking.

Can I ask what you are going on about now?

If they do shut it off completely will the new underground car park become a new boating Lake?

Perhaps the person collecting the data pressed the delete key by accident.


There are rumours as to who user23 is and this is probably propagated by people using the Internet, as opposed to snooping around refuse bins for clues about ID.

I personally don't like people who would rather remain anonymous being 'outed' on forums. It smacks of vigilantism.

Don't believe it should make any difference who he is or what he does for a living, whether self employed or employed, he is still entitled to his opinions if you disagree with him certainly tell him but he should not be stopped from expressing his opinions.

Did we ever receive the results of the Hydrological Survey or are we still waiting?

yes

Excellent ...
Are they online? And if so where?

There is the rub - typical of so many forum members you asked two questions in one........

Still waiting!