Local (To Me !!!) – Page 34

At Last !!!

“18 months” they said. Then “Open by Easter, 2013” they said. That’s how long they said it would take to reinstate the shops and takeaway following the fire that destroyed our local shopping centre.

Here we are, at the end of June, and the pharmacy has opened. Hooray.

I feel for the staff at Rowlands who have put in a stalwart performance since the fire. The following statement by the News doesn’t really recognise the conditions that they have endured.

Since then, staff have been dispensing medicine from a cramped portable building in the car park of Stake Lodge Surgery.

The “cramped portable building” was really little more than a converted shipping container and working there must have been like being in an oven in the summer and being in a freezer in the winter. And yet, throughout it all, they still managed to put on a cheery face and I for one would like to thank them all for the service that they provided in those less than kindly conditions. I hope they like their new accommodation.

Joy as Waterlooville fire-hit pharmacy rises from the ashes – Local Health – Portsmouth News.

Serious concerns over Welborne

And well there might be serious concerns over Welborne, the new town to be built north of Fareham.

Welborne - An artists impression of the new town to be built north of Fareham — Welborne – An artists impression of the new town to be built north of Fareham

It doesn’t require expensive surveys to be carried out. It doesn’t require the employment of expensive consultants. Anyone with half an ounce of common sense can see what is going to happen, knows what chaos will descend on this area once those new houses are built. One only has to take a look at the Segensworth area, try travelling through it during peak traffic times.

Once complete, the town, to be named Welborne, will have 6,500 homes, roughly the same amount as Petersfield.

So a town the size of Petersfield will be created just over a kilometer from the town of Fareham. The amount of traffic that the new development will generate on the M27 corridor is truly unknown but it can be guessed at. I guarantee that we will see similar log jams on the new, yet to be built, M27 slip roads, similar to those seen at Segensworth.
The traffic levels around Fareham are already high especially with access to the M27 and also on the road down to Gosport and Lee. Welborne will certainly add significantly to that since the local councillors have indicated that future Welborne residents will also be looking to the new jobs being generated at Daedalus.

Fareham Councillor Sean Woodward is being quite disingenuous when he says of opponents to Welborne …..

‘I’d love to know what their alternative is. It’s easy to say do not build anything, anywhere, but councillors are charged with providing new housing and we have 2,000 families on the waiting list which need housing.

Woodward states that the current need is housing for 2000 families is somewhat less than the 6,500 homes proposed for Welborne.

Planning for future demand is all well and good but its the density of the housing being proposed that is the concern.

Woodward certainly knows the chaos to come because, despite all assurances, the infrastructure will not be in place to support the additional load. The roads, the utilities, the available employment, all will be sadly lacking.

This will be an urban disaster.

Country campaigners raise serious concerns over Welborne – Politics – Portsmouth News.

Come On You Seagulls

Come On Boys

Let’s show those Palace folks how to play football

View From The Conservatory

Well it’s been a while since I posted one of these.

I’ve been up and down healthwise, flu or something similar, and the weather has been dire to say the least. Now we have had a few sunny days and all the plants seem to be exploding into growth and the colours are fabulous.

Our remaining cherry blossom is looking beautiful and the lawn in our back garden is totally out of control. I’ve taken a few minutes out from work to make a quick perimeter patrol and fire off a few snaps.

Up above is a shot of a butterfly. I don’t believe I have seen one of these before, certainly never in my garden.

Does anyone out there know what it is ?

Here are a few more pictures, some with titles where I know what they are. Some remain anonymous. However, I hope you enjoy these facsimiles as much as I am enjoying the real thing.

My perimeter walk has also highlighted the amount of work that needs to be done around the “estate”.

This weekend has been earmarked for “slash and burn”. Perhaps not much of the burning but certainly there will be much slashing.

We have also decided to replace the fence which marks the back border for our property.

As you can see the fence has a somewhat laidback attitude. Something it took on early the year after the “Great Storm” of 1987. Slowly but surely the post has rotated in the ground and many of the other posts have rotted out so the whole fence has to go. Thats not bad considering it has had no treatment during the last 30 years. So, 25-30 meters of wooden fencing, a task which is a little to big for my DIY skills, will be replaced by a local firm. They have done work on two of my neighbours properties so I have been able to see the quality of their work.

Once that is done we will have a blank canvas against which to plan the transformation.

Here are couple of general shots showing the desperate state of my garden.

It would seem that something has taken up residence under our shed. A large hole and signs of escavation. Maybe that tatty fox, I spotted a couple of weeks ago, has decided to move in.