Failed by council - fix or move?

[jocelyn plummer]

To come back to Malcolm's original posting------ malcolm I have private mailed you.

To join in with the thread--I have to say that our previous home town - Ampthill, has been completely ruined by development, it's only fault being that the Town sits in the middle of the CBC ward and is only 45 mins from London by train. The charming, sedate Georgian market town I moved to in 1969 with a population of 4,000 and lovely Georgian houses 4 of which I have had the honour of being custodian, has become a fast moving, traffic congested rat run with a population creeping towards 10,000-12,000 as it merges with Flitwick, maulden and horror of horrors, MK

As for the listed buildings and conservation areas I seriously do not think that CBC know how to spell the words, let alone realise what damage they have done by letting the town become so overdeveloped, To cap it all the local Town Council have achieved funding to re-create Ampthill Park as Ampthill Great Park and are now restoring it to the 'original' Capability Brown planting and turning it into a municipal style place for all and sundry. Bah humbug-- hence our hasty retreat to the depths of North Norfolk--not that our little village has not had its dramas with a greedy developer trying to spill 4 more cars onto the road from his development --fortunately that has been knocked on the head by Highways and Environment Agency objections.

 

[88v8]

Well, OK, England is densely populated, and Netherlands is only more dense if one excludes the water.
My point is that Councils respond - badly or otherwise - to central Govt drivers, and if the population increases then central Govt will force Councils to provide housing and deal with the traffic increase. So wherever one might move, one will have more of the same.
We've all seen lovely period houses surrounded by modern tat. Is that how we want the whole country to end up?
The EU reaches its tentacles into every aspect of our country, and this forum provides a different perspective from the usual airy fairy economics that no one can know about. We all know where population rise will take us, indeed Malcolm and others are already there.

Ivor

 

[malcolm]

I've decided to put positive energy into a fight against the traffic calming rather than using up negative energy being furious about it. It is not safe, there have already been several accidents and is far from popular in the village. I refuse to sell my cars to buy something more safe just because the council is negligent in their duties in making the roads safe.

I don't believe we have any democracy, but we do have a legal system which could be used against the council should their failings result in fatalities or serious accidents. Hopefully we can get the villagers out with pitchforks as most will have had a crash or near miss by now.

Thanks for the help. I am sorry to have posted something that kicked off a row about immigration. I have asked Simon to close the thread.

 

[MatthewC]

It's the main reason I'm going to vote Out.

I really cannot see how EU membership came into this argument! Councils will still operate in pursuance of their own (and their friends) interests, whilst ignoring all local feeling and objection.

 

[CliffordPope]

I don't really think this is anything to do with immigration, or even fundamentally with the competance or otherwise of the council in managing traffic.

The basic fact is that Britain, like all other world nations, is engaged in the universal pursuit of economic growth and prosperity. We have all of us signed up to this objective, by our votes but also by our active involvement in the economy. Everyone who tries for a better job, a career, a move up the housing ladder, shopping choice, modern goods, entertainments, sports, fashion, etc etc etc is part of the pressure to consume more. That increased consumption shows itself in many ways, but ultimately it means a pressure to build more houses in and around those areas benefitting and driving the economic growth.

To personalise the issue, you can afford a TR6 and a house in an idylic area precisely because you have cooperated in and benefitted from similar prosperity spread amongst other people. Not just you - we are all eroding and destroying the very things we love.

It's easy enough to live in an area where there are no irritating traffic calming measures and no luxury celebrity houses being built - just go and buy a house in a run-down area of devastated industry and collapsing economy. But don't look for it in prosperous southern England.

 

[malcolm]

That's true enough. My only small gripe about the traffic calming is I was nearly killed there the other day when someone pulled out head on within a cars length of me and I couldn't take avoiding action (they missed fortunately though I can't see a good way to avoid being actually killed in the future given similar circumstances, and I was a little depressed about that).

I accept it is my choice as I could drive a car with seat belts and safety and stuff, but those cars are really boring. And while my death is probably not important on the wider scale it is an important issue for me.

I want to make some changes and have being doing a fair bit of research. I suspect data will be the answer. The council have based their data on a report by the people who designed the traffic calming standing beside it for half an hour. They don't appear to have access to the insurance database, nor do they have access to anecdotal evidence of near misses or resident's opinions. I think it is possible to acquire that data and present a case (should a case need to be presented). I've resolved to work with the Parish Council and County Council to help them acquire this data - more likely to make sensible stuff happen if I don't get people's backs up.

For building new housing it won't cause me to move if they build a housing estate next door on a flood plain in an important green space within the conservation area (with an entrance right beside the school where they can run children down while obstructed by parked parents), though I feel there are better places to build. Fixed town boundaries seem to be the unchangeable thing that make people try to build in stupid or inappropriate places within the boundary.

I'm feeling better now guys - feel free to ignore my earlier annoyance.

 

[mims&pip]

Pleased to hear you're feeling more upbeat, Malcolm I take it selling up is now off the agenda and it's back to business as usual with the house project?

Mims x

 

[malcolm]

Pleased to hear you're feeling more upbeat, Malcolm I take it selling up is now off the agenda and it's back to business as usual with the house project?

Mims x

I don't recall ever having been in such a bad mood. The estate agent is still visiting tomorrow but it would be a very bad plan to sell up before the house is mortgageable and the change of use building regs finished and kitchen installed.

It should be useful to have the estate agent around as there are a few things I want to do that other people may or may not like, so it would be good to pick their brains. I'll probably sell with that lot eventually so don't feel too bad about taking their time.

Thanks for your advice by the way - I'm in touch with the council local representative and the police should be able to help with the insurance database data.

 

[mims&pip]

Just wondering how it went with the estate agent, Malcolm?

Mims x

 

[TheForge]

Wyrd bin ful aread..

A twig, indeed it is. Are you a Bernard Cornwell fan?

 

[malcolm]

Just wondering how it went with the estate agent, Malcolm?

Deplorable creatures aren't they. He said the place wouldn't be worth anything until it is finished, and showed me a brochure of a renovation by a property developer complete with cement and uPVC. Suggested the developer might be interested.

So renewed vigour and lots of lime while the summer is here! I've been trying to tie in the back wall of the kitchen. The Georgians had a chance to tie it in when they built it but disposed of their rubble in there instead. I'm off to find a Georgian to complain at.

 

[plasticpigeon]

How frustrating, but I'm sure it is the same all over the country. If you aren't planning to stay it must be tempting to do the rest up as cheaply and tastelessly as most developers would,to get maximum return for minimum effort. If you don't you are renovating for personal satisfaction so it doesn't really matter what the agent or next owner thinks.

 

[malcolm]

You can do it cheaply and tastelessly and still use lime everywhere. I doubt it makes much difference to the values at the moment, but it might when renovated houses start becoming very expensive to repair in 30 years time, and it could take me that long to finish.

I got annoyed but have now resolved to be very helpful and my suggestion will be on the agenda at the next Parish Council meeting. I will only ask for a small change and can offer to be even more helpful and organise a local data collection exercise.

 

[plasticpigeon]

That sounds like an excellent way to proceed.

 

[mims&pip]

Mmm, they're definitely a bunch of idiots for the most part :roll:

We - or rather I - have always resisted getting EAs in to value part way through a restoration, despite advice from others that it's a good idea to see what the market is demanding, as I'm convinced they would pour scorn on our way of doing things (ie, the right way by the building!) and try to convince us we should be applying liberal doses of plastic and cement! A couple of previous houses have been bought with the intention of staying long term, then a change of circs - or in the case of the last house, the road outside - prompted a change of heart. We could at that point have decided to spare the effort and cash by doing as a developer would do, but neither of us could allow ourselves to do that......mugs that we are, lol

Good on you with the parish council......hopefully they'll take heed of your suggestions!

Mims x

 

[skier-hughes]

When we were thinking of moving we had an agent in, the same one who sold us the house. The same one who valued the extra 1/3 acre we bought a few years back at £30,000/acre. The same one who valued a similarly sized but younger house, with less land and in need of total renovation.
He proceeded to tell us the land we bought added nothing to the value of our house, that having half the work done added no value to the house and gave us a price that was just a bit above the other house he was selling................ um, I don't think so.............. luckily we have managed to secure more land here, so no need to move!!!

 

[mims&pip]

That's good news on the land front, Skier-Hughes

Don't get me started on EAs/developers. I've no doubt mentioned this before, but our nearest neighbour only purchased his (mid 1800s, detached) house last year. He said it was to be the family home and indeed he plus family moved in shortly after. He bought at auction paying considerably less than the PO (who'd only had it a year before his marriage broke down) and than we did for ours which - despite needing work - is a much nicer house than his (imho, of course!).

A few months down the line he said he'd decided to move as they "weren't settling" and missed their 1980s box (my word, not his, lol!) on a nearby estate. Shortly afterwards he tells us he's applying for planning permission to divide it into two semis (PP needed as - like ours - it has an article 4 and is in a conservation area) and that a good independent EA - the same one that sold us ours and had valued ours at only 30k more than we had paid when we were thinking of selling last Spring - valued his at a whopping 100k more than he had paid if he just gave it a lick of paint :shock:

He got his PP but has done no work at all except decimate the lovely mature garden and today I spotted the Purple Bricks EA there taking pics. My mind boggles as to how much the vendor thinks he's going to get in the current climate.......

Sorry, rant over :roll:

Mims x

 

[skier-hughes]

I must pop in, are you around 7th July, at around 4.15pm?

 

[a twig]

Wyrd bin ful aread..

A twig, indeed it is. Are you a Bernard Cornwell fan?

I am, what gave it away ?

 

[mims&pip]

I must pop in, are you around 7th July, at around 4.15pm?

Sadly we're not I'm afraid, as we'll be on a visit to our son and his gf in Brighton.

Mims x