New retail around Waterlooville

A Warrens Bakery and a Giorgios Pizza open in Waterlooville. I tried a Warrens Cornish pasty and it was good. Apparently the company have been going for 150 years. Big question mark though regarding the Cornish pasty, Warrens can currently protect their product under EU law, but after Brexit there will be no protection for Cornish pasties and or Melton Mowbray pork pies. Any company anywhere will be able to make anything that roughly looks like a pasty and call it Cornish.
Not sure if Giorgios is a chain or an independent.




New Premier shop being kitted out at Hambledon Parade.

Bin less bus stop

There is no waste bin next to the central Waterlooville bus stop on the Asda side of the street.

So fast food trash just gets dumped around the seats.

At least on this occasion most of it was biodegradeable.

These difficult times...

...are going to get harder unless the majority start shouting out and shut down the zenophobes, racists, extreme patriots and left wing ideologists.

Nationalism and hatred appear to be uncontrolled and no one seems to want to remember the past which is full of dictators and basic hell.
This is highlighted by the fictional story about a Christian girl that allegedly complained that her Muslim foster parents made her speak Arabic, took away her cross and banned her from eating bakon. The list of lies basically made up by some people in so called British media was very long and the nature of the story is very similar to the lies published in 1930s Germany about Jews. Because the story tries to attack a section of British society it is also undermining the stability of this nation and hence could be seen as an attempt to commit treason.
The source of the story should be investigated and those responsible should be prosecuted.

Meanwhile Trump seems to keep going despite everyone with a brain on this planet agreeing that he is a problem. That includes 'conservatives'.

Spain yet again seems to be splitting into pieces with selfish regionalism negating the greater good.

Here in the UK, Labour support withdrawing from the EU because Labour believe the EU do not want state owned industries or nationalised companies (an ideological POV), whilst Conservatives don't like the EU because they believe the UK should have it's own laws based on past historical perceptions (another ideological POV). Yes the 'extreme' left want out of the EU because their ideology dictates perfection.

Is Westminster better than Brussels? Where is the factual evidence that London has, is or will do a better job for us than Brussels?

Once Brexit has happened, all those that were criticising Brussels will just turn their attention to Westminster, whining that domestic democracy isn't providing for their personal interests. Democracy never has and never will, that is the whole point of democracy, because the alternative is that a few have what they want and others either have little of what they want or are exterminated by a dictator or monarch patronised by those that have what they want.

I have to appologise that this blog is focusing less on local issues. But the fact is what Trump does or what May does has an impact on all that live in Waterlooville. If these idiots left things alone we could all get on with our local lives and build a future that ourselves and all those across the world could be proud of.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/01/inquiry-rejects-press-claims-about-christian-girl-fostered-by-muslims
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/02/christian-girl-5-misses-muslim-foster-carers-court-hears/

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/muslims-fosterers-gave-warm-care-to-tower-hamlets-christian-girl-wxdf33nqn

http://metro.co.uk/2017/10/02/christian-girl-5-removed-from-muslim-foster-carers-says-she-misses-them-6972116/

Empty Shops of Waterlooville in May 2017

Ugly block of flats proposed for Waterlooville

Havant Borough Council appears to be determined to allow the ugliest buildings to be built in Waterlooville. The proposal for Wellington Way probably beats them all, some 8 storeys high and the design looks like a typical 1960s block.

https://www.havant.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/briefing%20note.pdf

When will we ever learn in the UK?
We know cheap well designed energy efficient buildings are possible, yet councils allow appalling crap to be built. British bodging dominated by cowboy developers and builders.

If you would like a say in this proposal, the council consultation will be on 24th May starting at 6pm at Havant Borough Council offices (The Plaza as they now call it).

https://www.havant.gov.uk/planning-and-environment/development-consultation-forums

Brantanos goes into administration

Having ripped apart Waterlooville shopping centre a number of years ago, Brantanos has itself gone into failure mode.

Waterlooville once had about half a dozen or so shoe shops, in fact Subways is now in the location of one of them. When Brantanos appeared in the retail park all but two of the shops closed down. A combination of Havant Borough Councils mismanagment and the greed of retail park developers allowed Brantanos to plonk itself outside the shopping centre.

Consumer choice and hence competition was reduced locally.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/business/budget-shoe-store-chain-with-shop-in-waterlooville-goes-into-administration-1-7901000

Froggy is back

Mr or Mrs Frog is back in the garden, keeping guard on a lot of frogs spawn again.

Waterlooville Christmas 2016

The flats that are replacing Swiss Cottage are near completion, solar panels mounted on the roof:

Old post office building still derelict.

Shops empty:

Betting shop takes prime position, flats replace office space in the background:

The Waterlooville story continues with mixed fortunes. The overall picture though is one of empty retail properties.

Winchester City Council and McDonalds team up at Waterlooville

Now you see them (trees)...

Now you don't...
The developers original plan for the ex BAE site at Waterlooville resulted in numerous trees being retained. In fact contractors spent a lot of time making sure some trees were retained. But the company that make a lot of claims about their new found environmental husbandary after years of environmental abuse (remember the McLibel case?) has now walked onto the site and appear to have demanded the saved trees be felled so that we can all see their new drive in diabetes and obesity outlet. All the claims made by McDonalds appear to be hypocritical when they are happy to chop down a few trees and encourage people to drive (adding to carbon emissions) for a meal that is only worth a pound or two.

Yep, Winchester Council make a lot of effort to protect their precious pompous city but poop everywhere else.

Leaning tower of bricks

Two pallets of bricks leaning precariously towards an expensive iron fence and wall.
I estimate that the centre of gravity is well over to the left and it is close to toppling, potentially damaging the wall and fence. Hope the builders have good insurance!
It's also potentially a health and safety risk, since the wall/fence could fail and injure the owners of the neighbouring home.

 Update:

 Yes it did topple over after heavy rains. In this photo the top pallet is now touching the iron fence.
The good news is that later in the day the top pallet of bricks had been lifted off and were placed on the drive along with an additional delivery of bricks.

Community Police take action

I have blogged a few times about youths causing some issues in Waterlooville town centre.

http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/more-youth-trouble-in-waterlooville.html
http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/the-youth-problems-of-waterlooville.html
http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/pidgeon-and-youth-problems-in.html

Yesterday I saw that some Community Police were talking to youths in the centre, later the youths appeared to move but I didn't see where.

A commentor suggested I wasn't tolerant!

New flats on the Swiss Cottage site

New low rent flats are being built on the Swiss Cottage site. Three storey timber frame construction from what I can make out. Is this being done on the cheap? I assume there will be a brick skin?

More youth trouble in Waterlooville

Waterlooville for lease or demolition

Was in Waterlooville today, popped into WH Smiths and noticed 3 youths walking from the general direction of Poundland towards the clock and Subway. One was carrying a wire shopping basket with a number of packets of crisps and sweets etc. I assumed they were pranking about, had paid for the goods and walked out with the basket.

Anyway a little later I walked out of WH Smiths and in the same direction as the youths who by now had just passed Nationwide Building Society.

That's when a man shouted out and said something like 'stop'. One elderly bloke ran after the youth with the basket and caught him, then two other men tried grappling with a youth and got one on the ground. Lots of shouting etc.

Anyway it seems that the goods had been stolen and were eventually returned to the shop but I think the youths 'got away'.

Waterlooville Music Festival started today

Waterlooville Music Festival 2016

The yearly Waterlooville Music Festival starts in a few weeks (11th to 19th June).

Shame about the badly designed supporting web page (www.stgeorgesnews.org/wmf/), fortunately the Facebook page looks much better.

Highlights include:

HMS Collingwood Volunteer Band
Langstone Big Band
Portsmouth Shantymen
Ukulele Workshop for Schools
Mumbaba for Toddlers
Hampshire Police Male Voice Choir
The Octaves

A day in the life of Milton Road bus stop

Swiss Cottage to be demolished soon

On a brighter note...

Improved pedestrian and cycle path

It's good to see that all the complaints about the pedestrian path/route through the Waterlooville Wellington Retail Park that I made on this blog over the years have been addressed.

See this speculative blog post that I made a few months ago (which includes links to other blog posts on the subject):

http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/a-real-path-at-wellington-retail-park.html

The path is now raised and has a curb, it also has had the number of exists/entrances that cut through the path reduced, making it far more acceptable as a way of getting into Waterlooville on foot.
As well as those practical features, there are also big 'planters' with trees and a few seats placed along the path (street furniture).

Addition (9/8/15): I should also add that the upgraded path was essential to improve access to Waterlooville for those using mobility scooters. The improved path ties in with the building of the new ramp. Previously mobility scooter users had a long tortuous route that took them around the town centre and pass the fire station.

So why did it take so long to fix it?

It has been wrong for as long as this blog has been going, why didn't they do this from the start?

Plus - it of course doesn't fix the problem that the retail park was a bad idea from the start and has helped to ruin our town centre.

The Star bus service

The new number 7 and 8 'Star' service between Waterlooville and Portsmouth has started and like the Eclipse service between Fareham and Gosport includes a bus stop announcement system and leather seats.

The display at the front of the bus shows the next stop once the current stop has been left and a 'ticker tape' feature at the bottom displays the latest news headlines.
I think the display is a bit under used. There is a large area that is used to display messages about the free WIFI and other onboard features.

Maybe First could do a 'deal' with The News and display local news in that space?

As well as the display, an audio voice announces the next bus stop. These systems are great for people with disabilities and also great for people new to buses or new to an area and don't know where to get off.

The seats are smart with leather coverings which should make them easier to clean. The padding in the seats is also good, giving comfortable support.

On some of the buses the display didn't seem to be working (one displayed the Windows command line and some error messages), but hopefully that is just initial teething trouble and on most of the buses I used it was working. The system certainly appears to be an improvement over the bus stop information systems installed years ago which took a long time to get working.

I have to say that despite some displays not working on some buses, the voice 'next stop' announcements were still working on those buses.

Whilst using the service, I did notice that some people were deliberately waiting for 'Star' buses and avoiding other bus numbers!

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/star/index.php

Waterlooville Music Festival kicks off

The 2013 Waterlooville Music Festival kicked off today with numerous bands dotted around town. Couldn't have asked for better weather! I have no idea who the bands were that I took photos of but the music was good.

This years programme includes:

Lady and The Tramps
The Band of TheHampshire Constabulary
Portsmouth Philharmonia
The Choir Company
Kopanang
Three Peny Bit
Portsmouth Shanty Men
and Don Lloyd and The Meridian Wind Band

That's Entertainment!

Brass Band

Duo