Electric Vehicle charging comes to the Borough

It's taken a long time, but soon Havant Borough Council owned car parks will have 48kW EV rapid chargers installed. The chargers will be a part of the Genie Point network:

https://www.cpsgenie.com/dis/

I believe these will charge a car to about 80% in 30 minutes, which is probably reasonable for a car park scenario. Ah it makes a change to post some local news and something positive!

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.

A real path at Wellington Retail Park??

After years of battling with cars trying to find a parking space at Wellington Retail Park, it looks like
pedestrians and cyclists trying to cross the numerous car park entrances and exists are going to get a proper path, with curbs??

At least I think this is going to be a path??
Feel free to post a comment if you know better.

Related blog posts:
http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/chaos-at-retail-park.html
http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/waterloovile-pedestrian-access.html
http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/salvador-caetano.html
http://lovelywaterlooville.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/paints-and-belligerent-car-drivers.html

Sainsburys update

Sainburys large store (above) is due to open this winter. My mother who once didn't really mind or understand it's impact is now of the same view as me. It will have a negative impact on Waterlooville. What Havant Borough Council and others choose to ignore is that it effectively disrupts the flow of activity that was once present along Hambledon road into Waterlooville and effectively adds another 'block' to the traditional access of Waterlooville. The view is that Waterlooville will be cut off because many now won't bother going into the centre, especially in from the Hambledon road route.

The history of development and the cut off of Waterlooville started when the bipass was built and Hambledon road was cut off just below St Georges church. Following that event, Havant Borough Council sold the part of Hambledon road servicing Wadham Stringers to private investors. This eventually led to the retail park being developed and the road being turned into a feeder to the retail car park (above)

And so Havant Borough Council continues it's anti-local business agenda that supports mass car use and the monopolies of big business. In the photo above is Sainsburys attempt - that is fully supported by the council- to provide access to cyclists and pedestrians. The fact is it highlights the pro-car agenda the council has. The car park is a nightmare to get through for pedestrians and cyclists even now years after it was created and the ramp is just another meandering attempt to bodge another solution.

Pedestrians and cyclists are the leaders of sustainability and healthy life styles that reduce costs for the council, yet Havant Borough Council continue to push the car onto us with ideological intensity.

Sainsburys chop down trees for a petrol station

As Waterlooville is being turned into a building site (thanks to the Conservatives dumping any ideas of being environmentally aware) Sainsburys is duplicating Asdas actions by chopping down green things so that they can build a petrol station. This time it is trees that were originally a part of an old and established hedgerow that ran along the original path of Hambledon Road.

As a part of the plan to build a big store, Sainsburys is 'upgrading' the roundabout, thus allowing more cars to interfere with the pedestrian route into Waterlooville. Both the petrol station and roundabout developments have resulted in numerous trees being felled and ground being laid to waste.

Both Asda and Sainsburys seem to have plans for increasing green house gas emissions in the area, supported by the Brown party, namely The Conservatives.

Asda put fuel sales before plant life

In the race to supply fossil fuels to the public and with the prospect of Sainsburys building a petrol station to compliment their new store, Asda has built a petrol station in the car park near the Asda store.
The car park has had thick vegetation and trees planted around the perimeter to visually hide it from public view and this has worked for many, many years. The West of Waterlooville has been quite green with vegetation for a long time now, but it seems that marketing, bad planning and profiteering is overriding common sense.

The 'hedgerow' that once surrounded the car park has now been thinned out, but not thinned all around the car park, just the bit that was hiding the Petrol station from public view. From the photo you can see the vegetation at the back is thicker than in the forground. To the right you can see the roof of the petrol station, the vegetation has been cleared so that cars approaching Waterlooville along the dual carriageway can see the Petrol station.

It's sad, but this imitates the larger picture we have today, where the environment is not integrated into economic, community and political thinking. A large American corporation is putting petrol sales and the production of green house gas emissions above wider community interests and the environment.

The silly thing is that it is far more noticeable because they only thinned out a section that was clearly blocking drivers views of the Petrol station!

It's a pity that Asda can find the money to chop down bushes and other vegetation, but can't find the money to pick up the garbage dropped by it's shoppers and is a direct result of their operational policies.

But then their corporate mentality and the people they employ at the top are not interested in integrating nature into their business model.

Is Crichton obsessed with parking?

The Liberal Democrat propaganda sheet was delivered today and it appears that the new local candidate (David Crichton) is obsessed with parking and as a consequence one assumes motor vehicles.

Out of the 4 articles about his desires and achievements, 3 of them are about parking.

Lets take a look...

'The new development'
Apparently he doesn't know the name of the place or is worried about naming it Berewood!
He wants more parking and parking spaces for the Berewood properties.Yes this wishy washy character seems to be oblivious to the need to cut carbon emissions and getting people walking etc.

Parking issues in Beaconsfield Road
Yep another crucial issue dealt with! The big solution? A sign.
Nice.

Parking in Waterlooville
Yet more car parking campaigning.

Watching paint dry is more exciting.

Well I guess with all this concrete sterilising Waterlooville there will be more opportunities to highlight the destructive nature the car has on our lives and environment.

Park(ing) Day is next Friday

One of my favourite green campaign ideas is taking place on Friday next week. Parking Day highlights the wastefulness of using a car and the land that is needed to keep them.

It started in America but is a worldwide event where people use (after buying a ticket) metered parking spaces and create temporary miniature gardens, parks and other conceptual spaces in the Parking Space.

Wonder what the legal status is in the UK of using a parking space for something other than a motor vehicle?

More info about the event at the Parking Day web site:
parkingday.org

Waterlooville eyesore, to be replaced with another

The News reports that the Curzon Rooms building might be pulled down and replaced with another eyesore!
Yep, another car park no less. How imaginative.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/bid-to-turn-old-dancehall-into-a-new-car-park-1-4214074

Conservative Coalition continue down the brown path

Bad, but probably predictable news today. The Conservative dominated coalition government lifted restrictions on parking charges and the number of parking spaces allowed on new housing developments.
The restrictions were originally planned to encourage people to use their cars less and a lot of supporting work had resulted in progress being made, along with a gradual change in attitude.

Without central government restrictions developers can re-submit their plans and increase the number of parking spaces, plus possibly reducing the amount of green space. Councils will be powerless to reject any revised plans unless they are given powers to do so. It is doubtful that the 'localism' (another piece of badly named legislation, in which the name has been hijacked from the green movement) bill will give councils the powers.

It will be worthwhile keeping an eye on the Newlands development to see what happens there.
The Labour government weren't heroes when it came to essential changes for greening the country, however this announcement is a backwards step and in the name of political ideology, fails to establish a culture that is green and environmentally sustainable.

Some tasks have to be done, no matter what your politics are, greening human behaviour is one of them. This unfortunately means that political ideals may have to be abandoned (in this case the Conservative ideology of a smaller central government role). This isn't unique to the 'right', the 'left' also need to make sacrifices regarding political ideology.

It is of no surprise that the person behind this appears to be Eric Pickles, although one assumes it is approved by others in the coalition. The Dickensian character appears to be behind most of the moves in the current government to increase pollution and a prime driver of ideological policies that ignore climate change and other green issues.

Park(ing) Day

It was international Park(ing) Day on Friday, something I haven't heard of before, where by people around the world take over metered parking spaces and make them into green parks, complete with turf and plants.

Here is a video:




I'm wondering if they put money in the meter?
I assume they do.

Visit the parking day web site.

Waterlooville Retail Park Hell

Some more fields near Waterlooville that were converted into an environmentally damaging car paradise. DFS and Focus can be seen in the background, the retail park is built on farm land, the cars to the right of the image are roughly where the original Hambledon Road entered Waterlooville.
To the rear of DFS and Focus is the dual carriageway.

The problem with this development is that it encourages car use. Many of the people driving to this place do not know that the land was once farm land. In many cases the things they purchase wouldn't even fit in a car and so they will have their sofas, washing machines and other goods delivered later by the store. Sure, they can buy small stuff as well, but then why use a car?

Every car parked in the photo, also has another car parking space allocated at the owners home. This results in gardens being destroyed along with a loss in insect and bird life.

What really makes this particular development bad is the fact that it was built across a long standing pedestrian route into Waterlooville, making it an unpleasant stressful walk through the car park. The blame is largely with the local authorities and developers for putting the car first and neglecting pedestrians, cyclists and disability electric buggy riders. The old Hambledon road route into Waterlooville was once publicly owned.