It's good to see the work starting to renovate the building.
Showing posts with label building work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label building work. Show all posts
Friday, 27 February 2026
Scaffolding
Tuesday, 16 May 2023
Refurbishment for Old House in Hereford
The Old House, the black and white building in the square in the middle of Hereford, needs to be refurbished, and a local Hay firm has been chosen to do the work.
Splitlath started out as barge builders in Stourbridge in 1867, and is still owned by the same family. These days, they specialise in the conservation of historic buildings.
They will be repairing the woodwork of the Old House, including frame, windows, bargeboards, and finials.
Sunday, 24 October 2021
Touring Inside the Castle
We entered the Castle by the door from the lawn (or at least, it will be a lawn again fairly soon), but there there will be a second entrance at the top of the steps from the Honesty Garden. This will lead directly into the King of Hay Bookshop, and off to the side down the corridor is the counter for the cafe - the kitchen being at the end of the corridor.
Across the way is the big room that has been used in recent years for events, and that will be the cafe. There was a plan to turn the stable block into the cafe, but that's been put on the back burner for now. When the Castle re-opens next year, the buildings round the yard will be retail units as they were before.
Upstairs, there are offices and toilets (there's an accessible toilet near the cafe counter on the ground floor), and one room has been kitted out with a lot of storage space for educational purposes. The Hay Castle Trust got a grant from the Clore Duffield Foundation to set it up. The Foundation only has two other educational rooms in Wales, both of them at St Fagans. The idea is that it will be used by school groups, or local groups like Local History Societies, and so forth, and will be suitable for talks, courses and workshops of various kinds.
One part of the first floor has been re-inforced, because a printing press is going to be installed there! It's the one that is, at present, in the cafe at Booth Books, and they are hoping to have people there who can work it, and encourage visitors to have a go.
Upstairs again, what was once the attic space is now going to be an area with comfy chairs where members of the public can go to quietly read - there will also be displays showing the history of the castle, including oral history (for instance, an interview with one of the firemen who helped to put out the 1977 fire). I think this may be where the historical costumes will be, too.
On the other side of the building, the room has been reinforced with steel mesh in the walls and ceiling, to make it as impregnable as they can so that top art galleries will be able to loan displays. The first exhibition planned for the space will be a collection of portraits of authors, from the National Portrait Gallery.
And then we were heading up again to the top of the tower, where the new viewing platform is:
It's easy to see why the Castle was built in that spot!
Saturday, 23 October 2021
Castle Tour - Blending Ancient and Modern
I was invited on a tour of the Castle, together with a couple of other ladies who have been involved in helping the Castle Trust, and it was great fun!
First of all, we went into the old site office, where Nepal Bazaar used to be, to change into hi-viz vests, white hard hats and steel toe capped boots, since the Castle is a building site at the moment. I brought my own hi viz, but it's a long time since I had my own steel toe capped boots (I was issued with a pair when I was on the Castle Mall dig in Norwich, thirty years ago!).
Andrew Williams was guiding us round, and he started outside the castle, where the lawn used to be. It's all churned up at the moment, but eventually it will be landscaped, and available for people to picnic, or just sit around on.
He started by explaining that he fills in a report for the Clerk of Works for each week of the project. At the beginning of the renovation, it was thought to be an 80 week job - and they're now on week 166. Some of this is normal building work delays, but a lot of it is Covid, and some of it is because of Brexit causing delays in materials arriving.
We were standing on some of the new flagstones outside the front door of the castle. They're the same stone as the steps leading down to the square on the other side of the castle, and the stone was chosen (and agreed on by Cadw, the National Parks and other interested bodies) to look modern, rather than to simulate something old. He pointed out the gables on the front of the building - three are original, and two were reconstructed last year, and those are built with exactly the same stone as the original, and blend in perfectly. So the thinking has been that as much of the original fabric of the building should be preserved as possible, but the new parts should look modern because this, too, is just a phase in the history of the building, and in a hundred years, people will be looking at those steps down to the square and thinking how quaint and twenty-first century they are!
Then we went into the entrance hall, which is at the side of the building which was affected the worst by the fires in 1939 and 1977. That end of the building had been open to the elements. Now there is a roof, but the re-building has left the space open up all the three floors, with mezzanine galleries. This is where the modern and the ancient fabric have to fit together like a jigsaw:
And at the top of the tower, there are skylights (Andrew said they were supposed to be self-cleaning) which also look very modern:
Elsewhere, the original beams have been retained, and the original roof was taken down and refurbished with original tiles over most of the area of the roof.
Tuesday, 19 May 2020
Meanwhile, at the Castle
Building work has re-started at the Castle - I saw a few men in orange jackets up there when I went shopping the other day. They seem to be keeping well spaced out.
Friday, 27 September 2019
Castle Gateway
When I wandered past the Castle gateway this morning, I saw that the two trees that were being trimmed last week have now been cut down, and also that the old staircase leading down from the gateway has been removed. This will be the first step to creating a new entranceway going through the medieval gateway and down into the town square.
Friday, 15 March 2019
Transforming an Old Bank
Meanwhile, further down the street, building work has started in earnest on what used to be the HSBC (and before that the Midland) Bank building. They're cutting new doorways in the wall, and I don't know what they're doing inside, but it's a hard hat area. They've also moved the public bench from the top of the slope to the bottom of the slope, beside the old front door.
It'll be interesting to see the final results.
Sunday, 30 September 2018
More Scaffolding Than Castle!
Having covered the walls of the Castle with scaffolding, they're now building a roof over it, presumably so they can continue working during inclement weather over the winter. The original builders would be amazed!
Sunday, 1 July 2018
What is that noise?
HSSSSS!!!
It could be heard across half of Hay.
The cause was easy to track down though, by the haze of dust in the air and the sand blasting van outside the shop and house in Castle Street that had the fire last year. Today is the day they've been dealing with some of the smoke damage.
It could be heard across half of Hay.
The cause was easy to track down though, by the haze of dust in the air and the sand blasting van outside the shop and house in Castle Street that had the fire last year. Today is the day they've been dealing with some of the smoke damage.
Friday, 29 September 2017
Building Work Starting
I walked down to the Co-op (treating myself to Ben and Jerry's chocolate ice cream!), and noticed that work seems to have started on the Bookers Edge housing development. At any rate, fences are up, site huts have arrived, and a drive has been started in the middle of the site, sloping up from the road.
I hope the problems about them agreeing to build affordable housing on part of the site have been sorted out.
Meanwhile, up Cusop Dingle, a small field by the road now looks like this:
The field seems to go with the house at the top of the picture, and there were signs up saying a security firm was watching the site. A couple of people I know were walking down the road as I was walking up, and told me that the stone wall along the footpath will be re-instated when they've finished.
I hope the problems about them agreeing to build affordable housing on part of the site have been sorted out.
Meanwhile, up Cusop Dingle, a small field by the road now looks like this:
The field seems to go with the house at the top of the picture, and there were signs up saying a security firm was watching the site. A couple of people I know were walking down the road as I was walking up, and told me that the stone wall along the footpath will be re-instated when they've finished.
Sunday, 17 September 2017
New School Site Tour
I was lucky enough to be included in the site tour of the new school building this week, as I've had my arm twisted to become the minutes secretary of HOWLS, the library supporters' group. (They didn't have to twist very hard. It's easy to stand up for something you believe in.)
Also with us was a group from the Town Council, including the Mayor, Trudi, and Nigel the Town Clerk. We were supposed to be meeting the county councillor who is the portfolio holder for libraries and the Chief Librarian, but at the last minute, the county councillor said she couldn't come, so we just met the Chief Librarian.
The way into the building site is down the path at the bottom of the car park that connects with Forest Road, where there's a turnstile arrangement which is electronically operated. When we got inside, there's a path to the site huts.
Building site offices have changed since I was an archaeologist! These are very comfortable and clean, and there are signs up for health and safety issues - as well as a couple of big signs saying "No Foul Language", since they're building right next to a working school, just over the fence. We went into a meeting room, where we were issued with hard hats and hi-vis jackets before we went into the new school building. We had already been told to wear sturdy shoes - alas, my steel toe cap boots I was issued for the Norwich Castle Mall dig wore out long ago, but I was wearing sensible boots.
The tall yellow part of the building that is closest to the car park is the new school hall, and the "community" rooms are attached to it on the side nearest the car park. The hall has the kitchen at one end, for school meals. We went through to stand in the room that the County Council want to move the Library into.
The chap from Willmott Dixon, the building contractors, was very helpful, and had plans of that part of the building printed off for us.
On the side nearest the car park are five tall windows, with narrow lengths of wall between. This is where the five computer terminals are planned to go. In the corner nearest to the front door will be the librarian's counter, and on the other side of the door there will be a small office tucked into the corner. At the back of the room, on the same side as the office and against the wall with the hall will be a "Tea Point" with a sink, and behind that, two toilets, which will be accessible for disabled users. The only wall space suitable for fixed shelving will be the wall with the hall, between the office and the door to the hall (which will be normally locked, and openable with an electronic fob). The wall is double thickness for sound proofing, so anyone in the library room will not be distracted by the sounds of children doing PE or having lunch.
There is no separate area for the children's library - it's all one rectangular room.
At the back of the library room, and narrower because of the Tea Point and toilets - and the toilet for the Kitchen which also slots in at the back of the room, is the community space. This will be divided from the library by a folding partition, but when not in use for community purposes, and when the library is open, it is supposed that people will be able to sit there to read the papers or whatever else they need to do.
We paced this part of the building out - it is 10 paces long and 6 or 7 across - there were some building materials in the way, so we couldn't do a complete straight line. It has its own separate entrance, and separate entrance to the Tea Point and toilets.
The chap from Willmott Dixon would have shown us the classroom block, too, but at the moment they are laying the underfloor heating, so it would have been a bit difficult. When we were standing outside, he showed us how each classroom will have a separate front door, leading to coat pegs and toilet in an anteroom and then into the main classroom. The classrooms are four in a row on each side of a wide corridor down the middle of the building.
He said that the building work had been complicated on this particular site because they first had to demolish part of the old school to make room for the new hall, and provide a new portacabin to replace the classroom they knocked down. So normally they would start with the tallest and most complex part of the build - the hall, but this time they started with the classroom block and joined the two parts together later. He said it's actually worked out quite well, as they come to the installation of the electrics and water and so on.
We were standing in the area which will become what I think he called a "mugger" - a Multi Use something or other - I think he meant a playground with a hard surface. There will be another hard surfaced play area round the other side of the classroom block, and the rest will be grassed over.
Someone asked about the Swimming Pool building, and he said that the building contractors had been asked if they could do anything to renovate the building, so they would be having a meeting with the Pool committee to see what was feasible. He said they wanted to help, but expectations would have to be realistic - there was only a limited amount of help they could give.
When it looks less like a building site and more like a building, with the plaster board up on the walls, they are planning to have an Open Day. This will be in December. He said they are well on schedule for finishing the building early next year, probably February.
After the site meeting, I went to the Library to compare the size of the present building with what I had just seen while it is fresh in my mind. It really is going to be a quart squeezed into a pint pot. It may be a very nice pint pot, but it is still inadequate to the needs of the population of Hay and the surrounding area.
Also with us was a group from the Town Council, including the Mayor, Trudi, and Nigel the Town Clerk. We were supposed to be meeting the county councillor who is the portfolio holder for libraries and the Chief Librarian, but at the last minute, the county councillor said she couldn't come, so we just met the Chief Librarian.
The way into the building site is down the path at the bottom of the car park that connects with Forest Road, where there's a turnstile arrangement which is electronically operated. When we got inside, there's a path to the site huts.
Building site offices have changed since I was an archaeologist! These are very comfortable and clean, and there are signs up for health and safety issues - as well as a couple of big signs saying "No Foul Language", since they're building right next to a working school, just over the fence. We went into a meeting room, where we were issued with hard hats and hi-vis jackets before we went into the new school building. We had already been told to wear sturdy shoes - alas, my steel toe cap boots I was issued for the Norwich Castle Mall dig wore out long ago, but I was wearing sensible boots.
The tall yellow part of the building that is closest to the car park is the new school hall, and the "community" rooms are attached to it on the side nearest the car park. The hall has the kitchen at one end, for school meals. We went through to stand in the room that the County Council want to move the Library into.
The chap from Willmott Dixon, the building contractors, was very helpful, and had plans of that part of the building printed off for us.
On the side nearest the car park are five tall windows, with narrow lengths of wall between. This is where the five computer terminals are planned to go. In the corner nearest to the front door will be the librarian's counter, and on the other side of the door there will be a small office tucked into the corner. At the back of the room, on the same side as the office and against the wall with the hall will be a "Tea Point" with a sink, and behind that, two toilets, which will be accessible for disabled users. The only wall space suitable for fixed shelving will be the wall with the hall, between the office and the door to the hall (which will be normally locked, and openable with an electronic fob). The wall is double thickness for sound proofing, so anyone in the library room will not be distracted by the sounds of children doing PE or having lunch.
There is no separate area for the children's library - it's all one rectangular room.
At the back of the library room, and narrower because of the Tea Point and toilets - and the toilet for the Kitchen which also slots in at the back of the room, is the community space. This will be divided from the library by a folding partition, but when not in use for community purposes, and when the library is open, it is supposed that people will be able to sit there to read the papers or whatever else they need to do.
We paced this part of the building out - it is 10 paces long and 6 or 7 across - there were some building materials in the way, so we couldn't do a complete straight line. It has its own separate entrance, and separate entrance to the Tea Point and toilets.
The chap from Willmott Dixon would have shown us the classroom block, too, but at the moment they are laying the underfloor heating, so it would have been a bit difficult. When we were standing outside, he showed us how each classroom will have a separate front door, leading to coat pegs and toilet in an anteroom and then into the main classroom. The classrooms are four in a row on each side of a wide corridor down the middle of the building.
He said that the building work had been complicated on this particular site because they first had to demolish part of the old school to make room for the new hall, and provide a new portacabin to replace the classroom they knocked down. So normally they would start with the tallest and most complex part of the build - the hall, but this time they started with the classroom block and joined the two parts together later. He said it's actually worked out quite well, as they come to the installation of the electrics and water and so on.
We were standing in the area which will become what I think he called a "mugger" - a Multi Use something or other - I think he meant a playground with a hard surface. There will be another hard surfaced play area round the other side of the classroom block, and the rest will be grassed over.
Someone asked about the Swimming Pool building, and he said that the building contractors had been asked if they could do anything to renovate the building, so they would be having a meeting with the Pool committee to see what was feasible. He said they wanted to help, but expectations would have to be realistic - there was only a limited amount of help they could give.
When it looks less like a building site and more like a building, with the plaster board up on the walls, they are planning to have an Open Day. This will be in December. He said they are well on schedule for finishing the building early next year, probably February.
After the site meeting, I went to the Library to compare the size of the present building with what I had just seen while it is fresh in my mind. It really is going to be a quart squeezed into a pint pot. It may be a very nice pint pot, but it is still inadequate to the needs of the population of Hay and the surrounding area.
Friday, 12 May 2017
Council Meeting - Parking, Woodland Group and Persimmon
The parking of cars seemed to be a theme running through the meeting on Monday.
On the Gliss, two owners of abandoned cars there are expected to remove them soon, leaving one with its wheels stacked up behind it.
Meanwhile, two camper vans have been seen down there, staying overnight. This was considered to be more of an issue than residents parking overnight, and it was suggested that the signs down there should be changed from "No overnight parking" to "No overnight camping".
Down at the Sports Pavilion, a rota has been worked out that all the sports clubs seem to be happy with, for charging for parking in their car park over the Festival. However, a letter has been received by the Town Council by a lady who lives in the Harley Almshouses. She has been parking her car in the sports pavilion car park, and wonders where she will be able to park in future. The councillors were clear that they couldn't make exceptions for parking there - if she was allowed to park, then other residents of the Almshouses and Brecon Road would want to have the same rights, and there would be no room for the actual users of the sports facilities. So she will have to park on Brecon Road in future.
At the other end of town, the lady who lives in the house just on the edge of the parking zone by the Globe will be disappointed too. The councillors decided that they couldn't take action to extend the parking zone to cover her. Partly this was because the parking scheme was supposed to be a pilot scheme run by the County Council. They seem to have forgotten this, and allowed it to run for about three years, but it is up to them to evaluate whether the scheme has been successful or not, and what boundaries to put on it. They also pointed out that extending the scheme down Newport Road would involve getting the agreement of the residents down the road, to be included in it.
Up at Black Lion Green, there used to be parking for residents at the top of the Green in the field at the end, which had been made into a car parking area. However, this is now closed, along with the business it was attached to, so the residents there no longer have parking spaces near their houses.
And at the Council Chambers, it was agreed that the parking spaces should be for the use of Nigel the Town Clerk and the new Admin Assistant, whoever that might be (two candidates have come forward, and will be interviewed shortly). There have been complaints from the Catholic Church across the road that people using the Council Chambers have been parking there.
And finally, on parking, the Hay Fair will be arriving on Hay Car Park shortly, to find things moved around quite considerably from where they were last year, due to the building of the new school. There should be a plan on parking for the Fair, so councillors were going to check on this.
There was good news on the shipping container that the Town Council wants to buy for the use of the Woodland Group (that shed by the Sports Pavilion has still not been cleared out). It's going to be cheaper than they thought - at around £2,000. However, there isn't enough room for it to be put by the electricity substation where they thought it could be sited. So now they are considering the other end of the Riverside Path, at the Gliss, or even under the bridge, though there is some uncertainty about how it could be moved there. It would, of course, be green, to blend in with the surroundings as much as possible.
At the Warren end of the Path, Persimmon have been causing problems again. They have been cutting trees down without permission, and have been working at times that they agreed no work should be done. The agreement was that they should work from 8am to 6pm on weekdays, 8am to 1pm on Saturday, and do no work on Sundays - but residents overlooking the site have reported work going on (and the radio blaring out) on Sundays. The councillors agreed to invite the managers of the Persimmon site to a Council meeting to discuss this, and other issues such as the entrance they made into the site that they were supposed to stop using.
On the Gliss, two owners of abandoned cars there are expected to remove them soon, leaving one with its wheels stacked up behind it.
Meanwhile, two camper vans have been seen down there, staying overnight. This was considered to be more of an issue than residents parking overnight, and it was suggested that the signs down there should be changed from "No overnight parking" to "No overnight camping".
Down at the Sports Pavilion, a rota has been worked out that all the sports clubs seem to be happy with, for charging for parking in their car park over the Festival. However, a letter has been received by the Town Council by a lady who lives in the Harley Almshouses. She has been parking her car in the sports pavilion car park, and wonders where she will be able to park in future. The councillors were clear that they couldn't make exceptions for parking there - if she was allowed to park, then other residents of the Almshouses and Brecon Road would want to have the same rights, and there would be no room for the actual users of the sports facilities. So she will have to park on Brecon Road in future.
At the other end of town, the lady who lives in the house just on the edge of the parking zone by the Globe will be disappointed too. The councillors decided that they couldn't take action to extend the parking zone to cover her. Partly this was because the parking scheme was supposed to be a pilot scheme run by the County Council. They seem to have forgotten this, and allowed it to run for about three years, but it is up to them to evaluate whether the scheme has been successful or not, and what boundaries to put on it. They also pointed out that extending the scheme down Newport Road would involve getting the agreement of the residents down the road, to be included in it.
Up at Black Lion Green, there used to be parking for residents at the top of the Green in the field at the end, which had been made into a car parking area. However, this is now closed, along with the business it was attached to, so the residents there no longer have parking spaces near their houses.
And at the Council Chambers, it was agreed that the parking spaces should be for the use of Nigel the Town Clerk and the new Admin Assistant, whoever that might be (two candidates have come forward, and will be interviewed shortly). There have been complaints from the Catholic Church across the road that people using the Council Chambers have been parking there.
And finally, on parking, the Hay Fair will be arriving on Hay Car Park shortly, to find things moved around quite considerably from where they were last year, due to the building of the new school. There should be a plan on parking for the Fair, so councillors were going to check on this.
There was good news on the shipping container that the Town Council wants to buy for the use of the Woodland Group (that shed by the Sports Pavilion has still not been cleared out). It's going to be cheaper than they thought - at around £2,000. However, there isn't enough room for it to be put by the electricity substation where they thought it could be sited. So now they are considering the other end of the Riverside Path, at the Gliss, or even under the bridge, though there is some uncertainty about how it could be moved there. It would, of course, be green, to blend in with the surroundings as much as possible.
At the Warren end of the Path, Persimmon have been causing problems again. They have been cutting trees down without permission, and have been working at times that they agreed no work should be done. The agreement was that they should work from 8am to 6pm on weekdays, 8am to 1pm on Saturday, and do no work on Sundays - but residents overlooking the site have reported work going on (and the radio blaring out) on Sundays. The councillors agreed to invite the managers of the Persimmon site to a Council meeting to discuss this, and other issues such as the entrance they made into the site that they were supposed to stop using.
Sunday, 9 April 2017
Council Meeting - Bits and Pieces
It seems the bridge is about to be painted, at long last! But plans for an extension to the cemetery are no further forward.
The Town Council needs another admin assistant, as Kevin is leaving. At the moment the post is for ten hours a week, on flexi-time, but there have only been four applicants for the job and the councillors wondered whether they are offering enough hours.
A letter arrived, concerned with the 19thC maps which were being kept in the cellar. The writer recommended moving the maps to a dry place, and that "three or four councillors" could work on the maps to restore them! As if the councillors don't have enough to do! Which reminded some of the councillors of all the records that the County Council just threw out some years ago....
Work is going on to make sure that the wards for elections of councillors are about the same size throughout the county - in fact, this is an international initiative, to ensure that the votes of each member of the public have about the same effect. The idea is fairness of representation, and in Powys it will mean that the total number of councillors will go down from 72 to 65. Some councillors wondered what the county councillors would find to do, since so many of their functions are being devolved down to the town councils and other functions are being taken over by the Welsh Assembly.
There are two vacancies at the Harley Almshouses - applicants need to be single and female, according to the terms of the charity.
At Hay School, a crane has been on site to lift in temporary classrooms, as the infants area is due to be knocked down over the Easter Holidays. So work is progressing well there.
SpeedWatch has also been doing well, and the police are considering extending the scheme to Gipsy Castle, as soon as they find a suitable place for the volunteers with the speed guns to stand without endangering themselves.
The town council are unsure about what is happening at the site of the old community centre, where Wales and West are supposed to be building social housing. Fiona Howard was distinctly unimpressed with the plans - she described the houses as "sheds" and said that they have only the tiniest of gardens, and there are still problems with the main access to the site, as well as problems with flooding. Wales and West are supposed to be engaging with the local community and the town council, but there has been no contact with them so far.
And at the other building sites around town - Readers Retreat has put up a sign directing people interested in the site into a dangerous situation they then have to reverse their cars out of. They were also refused planning permission for a portacabin on site. On the railway line, they've cut down two trees that they were not supposed to cut down, and gone onto private land to put a fence up. It seems they are not interested in getting permission for what they do - they're just going ahead and doing what they like.
The next meeting of the council will be the AGM on the 8th May, after the elections.
The Town Council needs another admin assistant, as Kevin is leaving. At the moment the post is for ten hours a week, on flexi-time, but there have only been four applicants for the job and the councillors wondered whether they are offering enough hours.
A letter arrived, concerned with the 19thC maps which were being kept in the cellar. The writer recommended moving the maps to a dry place, and that "three or four councillors" could work on the maps to restore them! As if the councillors don't have enough to do! Which reminded some of the councillors of all the records that the County Council just threw out some years ago....
Work is going on to make sure that the wards for elections of councillors are about the same size throughout the county - in fact, this is an international initiative, to ensure that the votes of each member of the public have about the same effect. The idea is fairness of representation, and in Powys it will mean that the total number of councillors will go down from 72 to 65. Some councillors wondered what the county councillors would find to do, since so many of their functions are being devolved down to the town councils and other functions are being taken over by the Welsh Assembly.
There are two vacancies at the Harley Almshouses - applicants need to be single and female, according to the terms of the charity.
At Hay School, a crane has been on site to lift in temporary classrooms, as the infants area is due to be knocked down over the Easter Holidays. So work is progressing well there.
SpeedWatch has also been doing well, and the police are considering extending the scheme to Gipsy Castle, as soon as they find a suitable place for the volunteers with the speed guns to stand without endangering themselves.
The town council are unsure about what is happening at the site of the old community centre, where Wales and West are supposed to be building social housing. Fiona Howard was distinctly unimpressed with the plans - she described the houses as "sheds" and said that they have only the tiniest of gardens, and there are still problems with the main access to the site, as well as problems with flooding. Wales and West are supposed to be engaging with the local community and the town council, but there has been no contact with them so far.
And at the other building sites around town - Readers Retreat has put up a sign directing people interested in the site into a dangerous situation they then have to reverse their cars out of. They were also refused planning permission for a portacabin on site. On the railway line, they've cut down two trees that they were not supposed to cut down, and gone onto private land to put a fence up. It seems they are not interested in getting permission for what they do - they're just going ahead and doing what they like.
The next meeting of the council will be the AGM on the 8th May, after the elections.
Thursday, 8 December 2016
Persimmon Homes Publicity
A young man in a smart suit bounced into the Cinema Bookshop this afternoon, full of bonhomie, to ask about putting a banner on the railings. He'd been sent to find suitable locations to advertise the Persimmon Homes site on the edge of town, and clearly hadn't been made aware of quite how controversial the development has been around Hay. In fact, he seemed to think I wouldn't be aware it was happening!
A little later, Hay's local French couple came in, with a glossy brochure they'd picked up at the site office when they went down to see what was happening in the field. It all looked very impressive on paper, though they couldn't quite work out from the map where the present lane to the Warren was.
They were more concerned about the Library, though. Unlike me, they had been to the Council Meeting on Monday, where the Library was discussed, and they had come away rather worried about the future.
And Francoise revealed her desire to read a Mills and Boon romance - because she'd heard of them and wanted to see for herself what they were like!
A little later, Hay's local French couple came in, with a glossy brochure they'd picked up at the site office when they went down to see what was happening in the field. It all looked very impressive on paper, though they couldn't quite work out from the map where the present lane to the Warren was.
They were more concerned about the Library, though. Unlike me, they had been to the Council Meeting on Monday, where the Library was discussed, and they had come away rather worried about the future.
And Francoise revealed her desire to read a Mills and Boon romance - because she'd heard of them and wanted to see for herself what they were like!
Monday, 21 November 2016
Persimmon Homes
This is one of the designs for houses on "Readers Retreat" (or possibly Birch Grove), seen on the Persimmon website, where they are advertising the development of two, three and four bedroomed houses, with desirable amenities nearby.
I don't suppose they got much work done today on the building site - it was tipping it down!
Thursday, 10 November 2016
Council Meeting - Police, Persimmon, and the Woodland Group
We have a very cheery new policeman in Hay - Lee Garrett has arrived from Brecon, and is still finding his feet, so he wants local residents to tell him what they think is important. One of the things he's already involved in is doing talks, mainly for the elderly, to alert them to scams, along with social services. He said there's a chap in Brecon who is sending money to someone who has promised him £50,000 in gold from Ghana, for instance, and they're trying to talk him out of sending any more! He distributed a magazine called Senior Siren. There was a lot of interest, especially from the lady from Dial a Ride who was there. The whole council thought it was a good initiative, and should be better advertised, in places like the B&R and WyeLocal.
Persimmon Homes have started building on the edge of town, and have opened a new entrance to the field. The name on the signboard is "readers retreat", which the councillors thought was a daft name. They have, however, been given the opportunity to choose a new name for the development. It was felt that this was a good opportunity to name something in honour of Nigel Birch, who died recently and was on the council for many years. Birch's Way was one suggestion (because Nigel always did things his way!), but the eventual choice was Birch Grove.
The Woodland Group has been shortlisted for a Tidy Wales Award for their work on dog fouling and the public litter pick they did. They'll get £250 if they win, and they get something just for being shortlisted.
On the subject of dog fouling, there was some discussion over whether it was time to start spraying offending dog poo with brightly coloured (safe!) paint again - highlighting the problem in that way did work in getting poo cleared away. There's also a poster competition going on for children, being judged by Hay Vets.
There was also some discussion about clearing out the old garage by the Sports Pavilion for the use of the Woodland Group. At the moment it's got old sports stuff in it, like goal posts and nets, which could do with a clear out, and the Woodland Group need somewhere to store their tools. It was agreed to try the arrangement for a year.
Persimmon Homes have started building on the edge of town, and have opened a new entrance to the field. The name on the signboard is "readers retreat", which the councillors thought was a daft name. They have, however, been given the opportunity to choose a new name for the development. It was felt that this was a good opportunity to name something in honour of Nigel Birch, who died recently and was on the council for many years. Birch's Way was one suggestion (because Nigel always did things his way!), but the eventual choice was Birch Grove.
The Woodland Group has been shortlisted for a Tidy Wales Award for their work on dog fouling and the public litter pick they did. They'll get £250 if they win, and they get something just for being shortlisted.
On the subject of dog fouling, there was some discussion over whether it was time to start spraying offending dog poo with brightly coloured (safe!) paint again - highlighting the problem in that way did work in getting poo cleared away. There's also a poster competition going on for children, being judged by Hay Vets.
There was also some discussion about clearing out the old garage by the Sports Pavilion for the use of the Woodland Group. At the moment it's got old sports stuff in it, like goal posts and nets, which could do with a clear out, and the Woodland Group need somewhere to store their tools. It was agreed to try the arrangement for a year.
Wednesday, 15 July 2015
Tomatito's - Naked!
Here's the picture that Tomatito's shared on Facebook, showing the structure of the walls now that the plaster's been taken off. They're still open for business, and while the workmen are reconstructing the walls, it's interesting to see how they were originally put together.
Sunday, 7 December 2014
The Council Before Christmas - Housing and Land
The Affordable Housing group have written to Persimmon Homes, seeking clarification on what they intend to build, and the answer is that 30% of the 80 homes they want to build on the edge of Hay will be "affordable" - a mix of rented property and property for sale.
Persimmon Homes have taken notice of the protest group's assertions that the drainage on the site is bad, and that there has been flooding there, so they are "designing a drainage solution to the flooding problem on site prior to progressing."
To this end, they called a meeting at the field. Jose Ferrera, from Persimmon Homes, sent an email on the 7th November, and a group met on site on the 11th. Fiona Howard, as Mayor, was invited, but she deputised Rob Golesworthy to go in her place. Rob has lived in Hay all his life, of course, and remembers when the field was a rubbish tip. He also had access to the plans from the railway, when it ran that way, which has the original drainage plan for the area on it. Gareth Ratcliffe was also invited, as County Councillor, and one of the neighbouring farmers also turned up. Alan Powell was there too. Persimmon Homes wanted to know who owned the land neighbouring the field, which includes the Town Council, in the area around the old railway bridge. They were also discussing the Llanigon Brook, surface water and sewage/grey water, and were keen to find out any local knowledge.
Dawn Lewis, who started the protest group, was very annoyed indeed that she hadn't been told of the meeting. Due to her conflict of interests, she wouldn't have been able to go, but she said that she should at least have known it was happening. She said that all the councillors get loads of emails every day, some trivial and some important, and there should have been an email about this. She hadn't known about it until one of her neighbours spotted the group of men standing in the field.
Belinda, the newest councillor, asked "Is this a male thing?" and pointed out that all the men on the council had been aware of the meeting, but none of the women had.
There was one other member of the public at the meeting, apart from me, and he'd been waiting quietly for this subject to come up. He was appalled that the building of the houses seemed to have been accepted by the council as a fait accompli - and walked out.
The councillors went on to talk about brown signs pointing to Hay - there's a distinct lack of them and Hay ought to be pressuring both Herefordshire and Powys County Councils to provide more (though I have a feeling that people who want brown signs have to pay a fee for them).
At the Cemetery, the deeds have been looked at, and it seems that there isn't any extra land belonging to the Council in the field above the newest graves. However, minutes of meetings discussing the cemetery seem to be missing from the archives from 1974 - 1982.
It was decided to invite a member of the National Parks to speak to the Council next time, as a sort of meet and greet exercise.
Someone mentioned the planning application for broiler chicken houses in Dorstone, which has caused an outcry locally, but as it's outside the Hay area, they moved on to the next item.
Which was a request from the Ladies' British Legion for the Council to buy flowerpots to put next to the Cenotaph, which they would maintain with plants. The Hay branch, though, has closed down, and the South Wales Branch now covers the area. The councillors were not keen on paying for plant pots.
The Warren Club still needs £20,000 to buy the land by the river, and the fishing rights, that they talked about when they came to do a presentation to the Council a couple of months ago. Though this would be an asset to the town, the Town Council don't have that sort of money - and with the problem of the transfer of the toilets to the town soon, they'll need all the reserves they have. However, there is the Recycling Fund, which could contribute a small amount. They decided to invite Tim Pugh, who is trying to raise the money, to the next meeting of the Finance Committee to discuss it with him.
There was a vote of thanks to everyone who had made the Hay Winter Festival work so well, and praise for Hay School, which is one of the best in Wales (for teaching, rather than the school buildings). As they are advertising for a new head, Fiona Howard has said she will be applying, so it's possible she will get her old job back.
And the next Council Meeting will be on Monday 5th January.
Persimmon Homes have taken notice of the protest group's assertions that the drainage on the site is bad, and that there has been flooding there, so they are "designing a drainage solution to the flooding problem on site prior to progressing."
To this end, they called a meeting at the field. Jose Ferrera, from Persimmon Homes, sent an email on the 7th November, and a group met on site on the 11th. Fiona Howard, as Mayor, was invited, but she deputised Rob Golesworthy to go in her place. Rob has lived in Hay all his life, of course, and remembers when the field was a rubbish tip. He also had access to the plans from the railway, when it ran that way, which has the original drainage plan for the area on it. Gareth Ratcliffe was also invited, as County Councillor, and one of the neighbouring farmers also turned up. Alan Powell was there too. Persimmon Homes wanted to know who owned the land neighbouring the field, which includes the Town Council, in the area around the old railway bridge. They were also discussing the Llanigon Brook, surface water and sewage/grey water, and were keen to find out any local knowledge.
Dawn Lewis, who started the protest group, was very annoyed indeed that she hadn't been told of the meeting. Due to her conflict of interests, she wouldn't have been able to go, but she said that she should at least have known it was happening. She said that all the councillors get loads of emails every day, some trivial and some important, and there should have been an email about this. She hadn't known about it until one of her neighbours spotted the group of men standing in the field.
Belinda, the newest councillor, asked "Is this a male thing?" and pointed out that all the men on the council had been aware of the meeting, but none of the women had.
There was one other member of the public at the meeting, apart from me, and he'd been waiting quietly for this subject to come up. He was appalled that the building of the houses seemed to have been accepted by the council as a fait accompli - and walked out.
The councillors went on to talk about brown signs pointing to Hay - there's a distinct lack of them and Hay ought to be pressuring both Herefordshire and Powys County Councils to provide more (though I have a feeling that people who want brown signs have to pay a fee for them).
At the Cemetery, the deeds have been looked at, and it seems that there isn't any extra land belonging to the Council in the field above the newest graves. However, minutes of meetings discussing the cemetery seem to be missing from the archives from 1974 - 1982.
It was decided to invite a member of the National Parks to speak to the Council next time, as a sort of meet and greet exercise.
Someone mentioned the planning application for broiler chicken houses in Dorstone, which has caused an outcry locally, but as it's outside the Hay area, they moved on to the next item.
Which was a request from the Ladies' British Legion for the Council to buy flowerpots to put next to the Cenotaph, which they would maintain with plants. The Hay branch, though, has closed down, and the South Wales Branch now covers the area. The councillors were not keen on paying for plant pots.
The Warren Club still needs £20,000 to buy the land by the river, and the fishing rights, that they talked about when they came to do a presentation to the Council a couple of months ago. Though this would be an asset to the town, the Town Council don't have that sort of money - and with the problem of the transfer of the toilets to the town soon, they'll need all the reserves they have. However, there is the Recycling Fund, which could contribute a small amount. They decided to invite Tim Pugh, who is trying to raise the money, to the next meeting of the Finance Committee to discuss it with him.
There was a vote of thanks to everyone who had made the Hay Winter Festival work so well, and praise for Hay School, which is one of the best in Wales (for teaching, rather than the school buildings). As they are advertising for a new head, Fiona Howard has said she will be applying, so it's possible she will get her old job back.
And the next Council Meeting will be on Monday 5th January.
Sunday, 31 August 2014
Persimmon Homes at Gypsy Castle
More housing for Hay, it seems, as Persimmon Homes have put a flyer in the latest Wye Local to advertise a public consultation on proposed new houses off Gypsy Castle Lane. The site is at present a field on the edge of town. They will be at the Parish Hall from 12 noon to 7pm on Wednesday 10th September. Comments on the plans are invited until 26th September.
I wonder how these plans fit in with the Local Development Plan.
I wonder how these plans fit in with the Local Development Plan.
Wednesday, 5 March 2014
Building works around Town
The railings around the Cheesemarket have come down now, as the work is finished apart from the finishing touches. They have painted the exterior woodwork a deep maroon, which is the colour it was painted in 1840, and looks very smart. They are having an opening ceremony on Easter Saturday, 19th April, by which time there will be interpretative boards up showing the history of the Cheesemarket, but they are taking bookings for the open hall and the flat now.
And as one lot of railings comes down, another lot goes up around the Council Chambers, where they are replacing the electricity sub-station around the back of the toilets. That work is expected to last around ten days.
And when I was going up Heol-y-dwr the other day, I noticed that the police station was encased in a scaffolding cage. I assume they were doing something to the flat roof.
And the roofs are going on the new Millbank houses now - which are making the road past the Globe seem a lot narrower now. This was where the garage forecourt used to be.
And as one lot of railings comes down, another lot goes up around the Council Chambers, where they are replacing the electricity sub-station around the back of the toilets. That work is expected to last around ten days.
And when I was going up Heol-y-dwr the other day, I noticed that the police station was encased in a scaffolding cage. I assume they were doing something to the flat roof.
And the roofs are going on the new Millbank houses now - which are making the road past the Globe seem a lot narrower now. This was where the garage forecourt used to be.
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