Old Gaol April 2014

Old Gaol Progress
The Old Gaol redevelopment is moving on and the former Police Station is now looking very smart.
Old Gaol Progress
Scaffolding has now moved to what was once the Tourist Information Centre / Music Centre. The pictured buildings will become apartments – with some community space for The Abingdon Bridge in the former Police Station, and a restaurant / cafe quarter downstairs in the The Old Gaol, and what was Tourist Information.

11 thoughts on “Old Gaol April 2014

  1. Rekw2000

    when they going to shift them bins???!!!

    also, its a shame that the buildings next to this development look so scruffy

    Reply
  2. John

    Report on something good and positive and there is always somebody who will find something to moan about. Some people are never happy.

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  3. sean

    That part of town is 100% better . It will be fantastic to see the Old Gaol developed. I do agree about the bins being on view, its the smell that gets you. However positivity is required on here – i do agree with John. Well lets all hope to see more positive development over the next couple of years. Sean

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  4. ohnonotmybaby

    Don’t you get it? they’re in a rush to finally finish this job before they win the tender for Old Abbey house !!

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  5. Rachel

    The bins are hideous and proving impossible to get moved. Yes it’s annoying to have to keep banging the drum, but when are they going to move the bins. They ruin the street.

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  6. Guido

    No, they will be in a rush to ALMOST finish it….enough to make them eligible for the tender for the Old Abbey House (that no doubt they’ve been given already), but not completed so they don’t have to pay out the final £2m that they owe ‘on completion’!

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  7. Spike S

    This is a prime pedestrian route from river to town with an imminent boating season. It’s not so much the eyesore or smell but the fact that someone thinks they have the right permanently to obstruct the public footpath.
    With a long-running offense like this (and being positive and constructive), the Town Council or appropriate local Government Agent should have the ability to confiscate and remove such items.
    Failure of the proper Agencies to enforce order is what encourages vigilantism – the bins might just become ‘self-propelled’.

    P.S. Even if the surrounds are still a work in progress, the old Cop Shop is looking much improved.

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  8. Iain

    Spike – i’m afraid this isn’t a power the town council has.

    Commercial waste is the responsibility of individual businesses to arrange disposal of under the environment protection act of 1990.

    The district authority is the enforcing body if businesses are not undertaking their responsibility.

    Like you i agree this is really unsightly, however i also have some sympathy for the busiesses as the area is congested and i dont think there is anywhere else they can put their bins. I’m sure they’d welcome ideas to improve it too – i can’t imagine its good for their trade either.

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  9. Hester

    There will have to be bins for the new restaurants along the front of Bridge Street (nos 25 and 27) – presumably in some form of store round the back. It would be nice to think that in the interests of improving the environment for those businesses – and the residents in the “cop shop” – the site owners (Cranbourne) might offer a reasonable deal for the other Bridge Street businesses to use the same bin stores….

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  10. daniel

    It’s quite simple…

    Highways (CC) are responsible for enforcing the blocking of the pavement by the bins.

    The businesses MUST get rid of their waste.

    If the business can’t store its waste in a bin (because there is no where for a bin to go) then they need to liaise with (I think) Vale Environmental enforcement to switch to daily rubbish BAGs.

    What this requires of course is ownership of the issue and the desire to get it resolved. As a microcosm of the issues that hold the town back….he said, she said its his fault for not doing what they said he couldn’t do what we wanted them to get us to do by the others that asked us to do it.

    Meanwhile…we all pay for the services, and those responsible for sorting it out don’t deliver (or enforce it).

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  11. Iain

    Daniel – we don’t pay for commercial waste, the businesses do.

    You are quite right, we do pay for enforcement. What would you have the enforcers do though?

    Bag solution doesn’t solve problem – just means unsightly bags instead of unsightly bins.

    Daily collections may help, but you’re dealing with a number of independent businesses who will be dealing with different providers and are likely to have different disposal requirements. I all cases this would cost them money which they may or may not have, welcome to the world of more empty shops.

    If the vale could provide a store somewhere (and i cant see where that would go – i like hesters idea but that sounds a little way off) – then that would help but that would cost money which creates its own challenges.

    I’m not suggesting this isn’t a real issue or that it shouldn’t be escalated, and i’d encourage you to take it up with the Vale enforcement team and the local vale councilors (Julie Mayhew-Archer and Tony De Vere I think) but i disagree that there is a simple solution.

    Reply

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