On this day, 16th October, 2019, this dragonfly decided to say hello.
A Friendly Dragonfly
Tag: Waterlooville
Goodbye And Good Riddance
https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/story/full_page_image/21st-january-2025-page-5_4f2607de/content.html
Well done to the police and keep up the good work.
Let Down Again
https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/full_page_image/11th-october-2024-page-4_4f0207dc/content.html
A few years ago this site was the home of Marconi Underwater Systems. The site was closed, and the Marconi buildings and surrounds became derelict. The site has remained an eyesore for many years.
Around 2012 I, as a member of the Waterlooville Residents Forum, attended a presentation on behalf of a potential developer. At that time, per the presentation, the plans were to build a 60 bed hotel and restaurant. They also planned a car showroom and a drive thru restaurant. The developer went to great pains. He assured us that the drive thru was not going to be another McDonald’s.
Outline Application APP/12/00652 was submitted 4th October 2012. The recommendation was that permission be granted for this application. Since that time, the Marconi (BAE) buildings were demolished but the site remained undeveloped.
Until that is, along came Lidl and, yep, McDonald’s. But the remainder of the site remained untouched.
And now the council appear to have given the go ahead for a new KFC, Aldi, and Costa.
It’s not as if our little town doesn’t lack for coffee shops and cafe’s. As for fast food drive thru’s, we are surrounded. Nor are we short of Aldi stores, we actually have seven within a ten mile radius. Costa Coffee is even more pervasive with ten in a four mile radius.
There is a significant amount of residential construction in and around Waterlooville. With all the new residents I would agree that there is a need for eateries. But I would argue that there is a greater need for entertainment centres. Waterlooville residents frequently call for a cinema complex / bowling alley. Sadly nobody hears the call
And so, the construction of these three businesses leaves me disappointed. I feel that we, the residents of Waterlooville, have been let down again.
Last Knockings
This is pretty much the last knocking of our tomato crops this year. There are just a few green tomatoes yet to ripen.
We have had a good crop this year, but sad to say, it could have been better. We sort of screwed up.
We have two pyramid planters, but we, by mistake, planted bush/trailing varieties in one.
Oh well, lesson learnt. Overall, we are pleased, and the flavour of homegrown fruit and veg is always superior.
These varieties are all very sweet, but the little orange ones are sooper sweet.
View From The Conservatory
View From The Conservatory
I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK
I sleep all night and I work all dayHe’s a lumberjack and he’s OK
He sleeps all night and he works all day
Well, thank you Monty Python.
Today, we have the guys taking down a dead tree, which is threatening to fall in mine and my neighbours backyard.
The tree doesn’t belong to us but we couldn’t cope with the bureaucracy of dealing with the Highways Agency, who moved their boundaries, and the local council, who have not “adopted” the remaining, abandoned, strip of land.
So, we have taken matters into our own hands.
The tree is a goner.
View From The Conservatory
Grey squirrel with an albino in the background. The albino has been hanging around for a few weeks now.
Local Council At Fault
Simon Carter states that the only way to reinvigorate our town centres is to shut down the internet !!!
https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/full_page_image/page-22-1834/content.html
To a certain extent, he is correct. The Internet is a contributing factor but not the sole reason Waterlooville is in such a sorry state.
And, of course, 60’s architecture isn’t wholly to blame either. But, it doesn’t help to alleviate the sad, drab appearance of Waterlooville centre.
Bright sunshine goes a long way to enhance the appearance of the shop fronts. But despite the sunshine, what is notable is the lack of people. Just two people walking thru and nobody sitting at the tables outside the cafe.
Compare that view to the picture I took last week on a dull day.
Not a single person in sight and no amount of sunshine is going to improve this view.
A significant factor in Waterloovilles’ demise was the decision to divert the A3 and to pedestrianise the main thoroughfare and therefore removing passing trade.
Further planning decisions to allow the development of retail parks away from the town centre have further reduced the footfall needed to sustain the businesses that have disappeared over the years.
The diverted A3 subdivided Waterlooville, and with the retail park providing free parking, while the town centre car parks charged for the dubious pleasure, there was further incentive to stay away.
Blaming the Internet is too easy and distracts from the part that Havant Borough Council had to play in getting Waterlooville to its current state.
Plans But No Real Substance
This is the face of a deluded woman.
Deluded because she is annoyed that folks, when they visit, can’t see the councils plans.
Journalist Christopher Howse of The Telegraph published an article on the demise of Waterlooville. He presented his view after a single visit.
Well, I found myself in Waterlooville centre at around 13:00 on Monday and I think Mr Howse is pretty spot on.
Although there were a few people wandering around, they didn’t look much like shoppers, more they were just passing through. With no shop fronts to attract them, invite them to pause a while and browse. It all looked pretty desolate.
All that was missing was some tumbleweed blowing around.
Despite the best efforts of those businesses actually open, it is not an attractive place to be.
There are many barber shops here, but all but one had no customers. The bored proprietors were sitting drinking coffee or fizzy pop.
The coffee shops all seemed to be fairly busy, but due to a distinct lack of interest in chipboard, there wasn’t much to keep me window shopping.
After around 45 mins, I had completed a full circuit of the town centre and took myself off to join the coffee drinkers.
I’m sorry, Councillor Robinson, but visual impressions of the town don’t convey the potential that HBC plans to build on. I really do applaud HBC for what they are trying to do, but as I have said before, I fear it is too little too late.
A misguided HBC has mishandled the planning of both Waterlooville and Havant centres, and the local residents are paying the price
The Telegraph’s View Of Waterlooville
Over the years, I have, in several posts, made some disparaging remarks about the state of our town (village) centre.
How it is slowly decomposing, and becoming something of a ghost town.
Well it seems we have now come to the attention of The Telegraph, one Britain’s national broadsheets.
The English high street: Waterlooville, Hampshire – how a town centre dies
This has become an object lesson in how a thriving town can be ruined by poor building and haphazard planning
This is the opening salvo of a sad description of how Havant Borough Council planners have mismanaged the development of Waterlooville and then, having fouled it up they have sat back to let the rot set in.
Further into the article, reference is made to the Wellington Way Shopping Centre website. I didn’t know it had one.
“Wellington Way Shopping Centre, right at the heart of the town,” says its website. “Offers a great mix of high-street names and boutiques. Come on down and enjoy the atmosphere.”
This is followed by …
You would have to be deranged to enjoy the atmosphere.
I have long bemoaned the fact that the planners diverted the A3 London Road to dogleg its way around the town centre. Effectively isolating the town centre from the new shopping experience that is the Wellington Way Retail Park. The Telegraph had this to say …
Since 1983, the A3 has roared in a dog-leg bypass, leaving the London Road, the main shopping street, as a comfortless pedestrian open space.
I note that the Telegraph didn’t comment on that part of the retail park experience which is the parking.
Only a moron would create a retail park with two motor vehicle entrances but only one exit. Parking is free for a set period of time, monitored by NPR cameras. Many folks have found that they have been fined due to it taking over an hour to exit the car park, thereby exceeding the free period.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/27/english-high-street-london-road-waterlooville-hampshire/
Don’t get me wrong. I know that HBC are working hard to turn things around. But, as I have also previously stated, I believe it to be too little, too late.
They have already subdivided the town centre by diverting and pedestrianising the A3. This is a change that they are highly unlikely to reverse.
Today, a Monday afternoon, I have just circumnavigated the town centre. There were a fair few people around, but it was a long way from the bustling town it was. And despite the clean-up work, it is drab, uninviting, and sad. The Telegraph are not far off the mark.
WrAnTz 