According to yesterday's (29 October 2009) Cambrian News, Blaenau Ffestiniog there is to be a £4.5m scheme to "revitalise the town centre and boost the local economy". The worrying part of the scheme as far as I'm concerned is the following snippet from the newspaper item:

There will also be ... improvements to the town's western gateway, including lighting up the quarry incline, Gloddfa Ganol, creating an eye catching zig zag design across the landscape and an appealing destination for visitors.

I do wonder what it is that makes designers want to put lights on everything (a similar scheme was proposed for the Mawddach railway viaduct at Barmouth recently). Not only does the above idea sound tacky and very much the application of urban values to a rural/industrial landscape, but it increases light pollution and is hardly compatible with another of the scheme's objectives of "reducing the environmental impact".

Dave

because they are politically-appointed placemen who only have so much money, and no real ideas......

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......or common sense! :guns:

well, quite.

It might be just me, and I don't know Ffestiniog, but I would rather guess that if you spread £4.5m among local businesses in the form of orders, or grants for new machinery, or repairs to premises, or wages for apprentices, or just a new van you might get somewhere.

of course, how many touchy-feely focus-group party activists you would need for that, hard to say.

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PDMHS have been trying to raise the cash to get the mine manager's house at Magpie mine connected to the grid, but reading this thread I've realised we've been going about it the wrong way .What we should be doing is getting a designer to come up with a scheme to put fairy lights all over the engine house and its chimney so that tourists passing it at night notice it's a bit of INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE. Of course, we'd need a regular supply of electricity to do this, so that'd need to be included in the grant.... :devil:

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Take care, you may end up with a solar panel and a set of low energy xmas lamps. 😉

Was there ever a grid supply to this site?

Edit: I refer to the Magpie site.

because they are politically-appointed placemen who only have so much money, and no real ideas......

........... and no taste.

Take care, you may end up with a solar panel and a set of low energy xmas lamps. 😉

Was there ever a grid supply to this site?

Edit: I refer to the Magpie site.

Speaking to Mike recently (custodian of said premises) the grid actually runs overhead in the adjacent field to the cottage. Pointing at it I said can't we hook into that?? It would be nice he said, only its just a bypass feed and not on permanently :curse:

Blimey... surely they could make a modern tourist ride out of the zig zag and with lighting its only a short jump to Blaenau Ffestiniog Disney.... :lol:

Least my ideas original!! :devil:

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You only have to read:-

.......lighting up the quarry incline, Gloddfa Ganol, creating an eye catching zig zag design..........

to realise how clue-less they are!

More information on this scheme can be found here http://www.gwynedd.gov.uk/gwy_doc.asp?cat=5545&doc=23964&Language=1 . The "artist [sic] impression of Blaenau Ffestiniog" is particularly interesting.

Dave

You have my sympathy.

I haven't had the pleasure of being 'regenerated' (it does seem to work for Dr. Who), but I was one of several victims of a 'refurbishment' some years ago. Amongst other bright ideas they brought in a 'colour consultant' to plan a re-paint job. Our building had several long and not very well lit corridors, several of which had kinks part way along. The old scheme was plain old magnolia from end to end, new scheme was mainly magnolia but with contrasting panels of what could be politely described as 'matt Victorian brown' (we called it s***) and notice boards. Where were these panels and notice boards to be put, between the (few) lights and in the (unlit) kinks. Needless to say despite 100% opposition and some demonstrations of the difference in light reflectivity between magnolia and matt Victorian brown the best we could achieve was that additional lights would be installed to illuminate the notice boards and eventually that the matt Victorian brown would turn into a dark blue. Once you have employed 'an expert' you must get your moneys worth!!

You are probably right about the lights, they will try and put them everywhere. They will probably paint all the shops, lamp-posts, and other street furniture blue. They will probably reduce the width of roads so that pavements can have tables and chairs outside the cafes. They will move the bus stops to a back street. Somewhere they will erect a modern sculpture which in a couple of years will have to be taken down because of 'structural weaknesses'. I nearly forgot, somewhere they will erect two poles connected at the top by a themed fretwork, this will function as a hazard to HGVs and indicate the entrance to the regenerated area.

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Reminds me a bit of some of the things that have occurred in Cornish mining towns and villages over the last 10-15 years. It's all very well spending money on 'urban regeneration' schemes like putting in (Chinese) granite benches and paved areas, floodlights on public buildings, public art works like miners' statues, planters and fake gas lights. This is mere (but expensive) window dressing.

Real regeneration will only come about through real jobs that give people in post-industrial communities real wages, not through grant assisted 'urban' improvement schemes.

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I don’t want to be a nuisance but I have to come in on this.
Years ago I was a director of the Walsall Phoenix Business Park; I have to admit that I take pride in the fact that the name “Phoenix” was my suggestion. Although long dead, the green and gold signs are still there to be seen.

So what did we achieve?

Basically the area that we were dealing with was a run down area of the town north of the town centre and clustered around the A34 north. It had been the subject of ‘urban decay, which is a never ending cycle of businesses closing down, premises becoming empty and subject to vandalism, leading to the area becoming depressed, more businesses closing down and the whole cycle repeating itself.

My initiative was for derelict premises to be boarded in heavy duty ply and painted in the business park colours. Casual fly tipping was discouraged by various means, and we were able to reverse the cycle of urban decay that was having such a detrimental effect on the area.
Unfortunately, the European funding that enabled the business park system came to an end, my business in the area was shut down, mainly for personal reasons, and I am now out.
If people reading this are challenged to see the point I am trying to make, basically it’s about involvement.
The thing about the business parks is that ordinary people who lived or worked in the area were involved. And as it was the business park company that was in charge, nothing was done without the company’s endorsement, and the money was wisely spent.

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Only a personal opinion but, any money that has left the UK (43 million/day), been reduced by the EU admin costs then returned to the UK as aid has not been well spent. 😞

No reflection on the obviously well managed UK business park end of the operation. 🙂

I agree about the EU Mr Morlock, but one has to always make the best of things.

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Take care, you may end up with a solar panel and a set of low energy xmas lamps. 😉

Was there ever a grid supply to this site?

Edit: I refer to the Magpie site.

Speaking to Mike recently (custodian of said premises) the grid actually runs overhead in the adjacent field to the cottage. Pointing at it I said can't we hook into that?? It would be nice he said, only its just a bypass feed and not on permanently :curse:

I'd wondered why it was going to cost so much when the wires ran overhead so close, now I know.

It will be good to have it on the grid but I'll sort of miss the generator, :confused:

Looking again at http://www.gwynedd.gov.uk/gwy_doc.asp?cat=5545&doc=23964&Language=1  it occurs to me that the (presumably) slate monoliths shown in the "artist impression of Blaenau Ffestiniog" will provide a wonderful opportunity for graffiti artists.

I've discovered that a lot of what was in the newspaper article was copied verbatim from a Welsh Assembly press release http://wales.gov.uk/location/north_west_wales/latestnews/091022blaenauf/;jsessionid=xQ7JKkwbWCJ3BBNgw46y3fJndP2smtBV7NzJHDl7QDLgJnd5TPyX!-337152720?lang=en .

Dave

Lets hope that as far as possible the money is spent on local contractors and suppliers so that the local economy benefits as much as possible.

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depends.. is the purpose to actually 'regenerate', in the sense of providing something new, or simply to prop up some parts of a basically under-performing local structure for a while?

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