Wimpey and Bryant destruction

Another set of before and after photos taken of Hambledon Road.

2007:

Feb 2009:

We could take our own bags

Waterloovile pedestrian access

Over the years, access to Waterlooville by pedestrians and cyclists approaching via the Hambledon Road route have gradually eroded. Havant council are largely to blame by putting car drivers first and neglecting the needs of pedestrians and cyclists. This is typified by the retail park that now spreads across the main route for all pedestrians and cyclists that want to enter Waterlooville via the dual carriageway underpass.

Before the dual carriageway was built, we had a public road (Hambledon Road) that ran straight into Waterlooville, but the council through its incompetence decided to sell the land to private investors a number of years ago and the dual carriageway/bypass was built for motor vehicle traffic.



In this photo I have drawn the path of the original Hambledon Road, which was long and straight for most of its length. The kink in the red line indicates the steep hill the old road climbed to get into Waterlooville.

To the right of the old road there were fields and a hedgerow once defined the border between road and fields. So basically Halfords and other retail units on that side are where the fields were located.

What can be seen from the photo is the horrendous situation we have today for pedestrians and cyclists. Remember what you see is the main highway into Waterlooville for anyone that wants to cycle or walk. Car drivers have their own dual carriageway and the cars can park here as well. Pedestrians have to negotiate about 7 'junctions' in the car park all within a few metres of each other.



Here we can see the new Zebra crossing markings being abused by a typical driver. There are about 7 of these crossings and vehicles regularly stop across the cycle and pedestrian path.

If a pedestrian or cyclist did this in the middle of a busy road, they would get a lot of abusive language aimed at them from arrogant drivers.

Note that another van is also stopped on a Zebra crossing further up.



On the day that these photos were taken, about 5 vehicles (within a 5 minute period) abused the highway code by stopping on the Zebra crossings. More vehicles stopped on the path than they did before the markings went down!

The highway code 192 states:

"In queuing traffic, you should keep the crossing clear"

Also 191 states:

"You MUST NOT park on a crossing or in the area covered by the zig-zag lines."

Clearly we have queueing traffic here and the code is being abused.

Havant Tesco - the story continues

It is good news to see Tescos have delayed the expansion and rebuild of their Havant store. The delay is due to pressure from green groups such as Friends of the Earth in Havant and others. It would be better if the store wasn't enlarged, however Tesco do intend to build a bigger store with new green technology at a later date.

The green technology may include wind turbines and rain water harvesting. Unfortunately even a low carbon Havant Tesco will still attract shoppers in their cars from a wide area, encouraging them to increase their personal/family carbon footprints. Also more often than not, cheap produce results in a higher carbon footprint.

Previous posts about Havant Tescos:

Havant Tesco's
Havant Tesco battle not over yet

Reducing That Electricity Bill - Victory!

Good news came by snail mail today in the form of the electricity bill. Having carried out all the changes outlined in my previous posts, i have found that my electricity consumption has reduced by some 20% when compared with the same time last year.

The improvement is despite the fact that the weather is colder than last year, so it is harder to keep warm, dry clothes etc.

Really, my quality of life hasn't changed a lot. I still use the computer a lot and watch TV just as much, but focusing on the energy intensive issues, such as laundry, cooking, heating water etc. I managed to make a significant change.

Considering that about 34% of our electricity is currently produced from coal, it shows that many power stations could be shut done with out many changes to our lives (a 20% reduction in coal use for electricity, equates roughly to a 35% reduction in electricity CO2 emissions).

Summary of energy saving tips I used:

1. Never use a tumble dryer
2. Invest in a stand alone spin dryer (for occasional use after the washing machine)
3. Turn down thermostat on heater a few degrees and wear thermal underwear
4. Always use lids on the saucepans
5. Dry clothes naturally outdoors or indoors (making sure of adequate ventilation indoors and use appropriate room)
6. When using kettle, tip excess boiling water in vacuum flask for use again in kettle later.

Salvador Caetano

It is a great shame that the Waterlooville Caetano plant has had to close at a time when we need more public transport and jobs. The site had a long history of 'coach' building, starting with Wadham Stringers building buses and ambulances. In fact Wadhams are featured on the brass plaques now embedded on the pedestrian areas of Waterlooville and on the underpass mural.

The Tory run council now has planning proposals to develop the land for even more pointless shops and car attracting terror. I wonder if the Mayor would mind if one of these retail hell holes were built near his house on Hayling Island and that he had to walk through them on a daily basis?

Obviously the optimism of Salvador Caetano for the British coach building market was completely undermined by the typically destructive mindless British car driver.

Reducing That Electricity Bill - and other stuff

I have found wearing thermal underwear helps when trying to reduce heating bills. The trouble is when it is in the wash and you don't have any spare, you find out how much you miss it!

It just shows what a difference thermal underwear can make and you realise how ridiculous it is that all the buildings you visit must have the heating turned up just so that people wearing one layer of clothing (having driven around in their cars) can feel comfortable.

I'm looking forward to seeing the next electricity bill just to see how much it has dropped. It's not very often that one can say they are looking forward to a bill arriving!

Not much going on with the Wimpey MDA development, I suppose that is not surprising, it is good news in some respects but it also means i have less to report here!