The rainbow flag is currently draped round the monk on the roundabout on the Marcham Road entry to Abingdon.
Last year, Town Council Leader, Mike Badcock, was quoted in the Oxford Mail saying ‘he would like to see a return to the practice of decorating the abbot, who has sported everything from football shirts to Santa hats down the years.‘
In view of the monk, the Hilton Garden Inn extension is taking shape, with the first of four storeys.
The 150 room hotel, more than twice the current size, could be open in summer 2018 as part of this £12m build and revamp. The existing rooms will be revamped to bring them up to the new standard.
I’d just like to say that in general, the standard of driving around the monk’s roundabout is appalling! There is a yellow box on the town-ward exit, and yesterday I stopped before it as per the Highway Code as it was chocker the other side, and was overtaken on the outside by a patient transport ambulance, and the car behind me honked. The ambulance blocked the exit so those exiting from B&Q direction couldn’t get onto the roundabout through the yellow box. Drivers just don’t seem to care about or understand the purpose of the yellow boxes at all (they do need repainting though). Rant over.
When all the vehicles use the road from the 1500 houses being built in North Abingdon, forget the yellow boxes.
You can stop in a yellow box if you are turning right [Rule 174 of the Highway Code]. However, it is debatable whether yellow boxes and roundabouts are compatible, since yellow boxes are designed to restrict flow whereas roundabouts are designed to assist flow.
Drivers who use the horn to express their irritation are in breach of the Highway Code. The horn is simply there to announce your presence. People are often far more aggressive in cars than they would be as pedestrians.
Anyone for an advanced driving course? £50 with RoSPA!
Maybe we could ask The Veil, or OCC to pay for some consultants to not improve the situation?
Surely Nimmo-Smith can come and check, on a Sunday at 6am, and reassure us there are no traffic problems in Abingdon..
As this thread seems to be moving towards traffic related comments, I thought I would ask how people are being affected by the roadwork/traffic lights on Dunmore road?
I drove back home last night via Fairacres to North Abingdon, gridlocked at every turn because of one set of traffic lights on the other end of town.
I wonder how things will look if there are traffic lights installed in the future for the proposed housing estate off Dunmore road – projections anyone?
45 minutes to get from a34 to top of dunmore… awesome..
Speaking with the manageress of the new Pablo lounge in the precinct she tells me that her drive into town each day takes on average 45 mins from the A34 to the multi story car park, it’s so unpredictable she now “dumps” her car somewhere off Ock St! She went in to say several of her staff have been caught out by the multi story closing at 7 each evening and all day Sunday, she’s had to pay for taxis home after staff find their cars locked in!
Today I drove to the new extension to the orchard centre in Didcot, it was rammed full, by contrast several traders are complaining of a severe and sudden loss of footfall!
Abingdon needs an urgent rethink, the proposed diamond interchange will have little effect to the town centre traffic, perhaps we need to revert to the old traffic system of one way stratton way ?
Deedee – there was an opportunity to raise these issues with Councillors at all levels at the Community-Led Plan meeting on travel and transport a few weeks ago – it was publicised on here, so hopefully you went along to that. If not, I am sure Councillor (Alice) Badcock and her CLP team would welcome your input. The meeting on retail is on 16 April (details on TC website) so a good opportunity to raise issues there too!
The public involvement is of course a good thing; but surely the councillors are already aware of these very situations? Not least because they are the same issues discussed 5, 7, 10 yrs ago…not least because they have been affecting the town adversely for the last 5, 7, 10 yrs…and not least because we’ve all been waiting for them to do something about it all!
We really need to let them know AGAIN?
Either they know already…but won’t do anything. Which is bad.
Or they know already, but can’t do anything. Which is bad, but renders letting them know pointless.
Or they just don’t realise…in which case they should stop what they are doing and have a word with themselves about whether they are in the right role and if they can, actually, serve the people of the town.
It’s one of the 3. But which?
Meanwhile, we celebrated Specsavers being here for 25 yrs, on the same weekend Didcot opened its extended destination shopping centre….
Yes of course Daniel – my point is that sounding off on a blog is even less likely to get anything changed! And at the CLP meetings Matt Barber did say that the Vale would welcome suggestions from the community on some of the issues under discussion….
And I agree.
But…having said that… Does Matthew not already know the issues affecting the town?
Either:
he does know, but can’t do anything.
He does know, but won’t do anything
He doesn’t know, in which case.. What’s he been doing for the past few years?
Personally, I think whilst I get your sentiment, I would only partly agree. I think that sounding off on a blog is AS LIKELY to get anything changed.
If the council is aware how nice the flowers are…they must be aware of less urgent matters like traffic, retail, and the town’s woes in general….
Hester, Daniel is quite right, how many times have you’ve written on here about attending public meetings where you air your views and opinions only to find you’ve been totally ignored? What, or rather how many positives have you managed to achieve, how has Abingdon beniffited from your input or ideas? I’m not having a pop at you Hester, far from it, but you can only push a stone up hill for so long.
Abingdon has very little time to save itself from retail oblivion and only councils can do that, only they can stop the rott, open the multi story, stop the proliferation of converting commercial to retail, get the pcso’s to control on street parking, address the busted paving and roads and instal some pride and initiatives back into the town, rocket science this is not, vision and commitment it is !
…I agree with DD … The town would be in a far worse state if it wasn’t for the careful, considered efforts by you Hester, and others. It just gets my blood boiling that we discuss the same issues as we did 10yrs ago.
Yes,thank you Hester, for your measured, well-informed postings. They help restore a sense of balance.
you dont get stuck in traffic – you are traffic.
if you’re in it you’re part of the issue.
I think we want the impossible a wonderful thriving shopping centre with no traffic problems.Don’t get me wrong I would love more quality shops in Abingdon but you don’t get one without the other as shown in Didcot who have H&M and T K Maxx not exactly the best.
…I dare to dream Elsie…
My dream is to be able to walk on the pavements in the little cul-de-sac where I live. They have become a secondary car park for shoppers and town centre businesses. (Not by the actual residents I might add).
Other than having a railway station, in no way should Abingdon seek to emulate Didcot.
Apart from anything else, where are you going to put the tens of thousands of homes they’re getting?
Sometimes small is beautiful.
A bypass is long overdue.
Couldn’t agree more pjh….what I’m jealous of is that Didcot had (has) a vision…. Not what the vision is.
There was scope for a ‘by pass’…but the land, owned by The Veil….got built on instead.
I think you’ll find we are getting thousands of houses, the North Abingdon development is just the start..
Once the airfield is released, then the rest will follow..
I have a vision, who needs a bypass, lets start work on the monorail from the proposed park and ride at Lodgehill, to Abingdon centre now.. then it could be extended to Oxford later.
There’s nothing on earth like a genuine, bona fide,
electrified, six-car monorail !!
If people dare to express their views about the traffic build up in Abingdon developers have Government planning officers who come to public meetings and push the developments through. Local people do not have a say.
Can’t we talk about something uncontroversial, like bins? Back into two weeks of not knowing what night is bins, oh woe!
I am pleased the monk is getting some love again.
Love the monorail idea. What about a cable car?
I gather there might be one going cheap in South London!
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/thames-cable-car-to-be-sold-off-and-boris-bikes-phased-out-in-savings-bid-a3791836.html
Monorail – Ha ha!… watch the Simpsons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDOI0cq6GZM