tinyurl.com/c6jyue
makes the blood boil, you can bet the council have know for months this was on the cards but hoped that the bridges would be finished before the company went belly up
Edited by Pugugly on 14/03/2009 at 12:42
|
|
I bet the 600 workers feel as unhappy as you do. Reading that it was the Welsh Assembly that were handling the project and not the Council, and they would have been contractually bound to the company anyway.
|
|
|
makes the blood boil ..........
If you let it affect you that much it'll only shorten your life.
Edited by L'escargot on 14/03/2009 at 07:17
|
|
Why isn't there a BBC England website?
|
Don't know...there is one but not on that link it seems, must be a Welsh only page!
The bridge would probably never have got used anyhow!
Edited by b308 on 14/03/2009 at 07:34
|
Wrekin have a large West Yorkshire presence, unfortunately that report doesn't say why they went under. Their bank RBS (the one we own) withdrew their overdraft of £2.5m. This may sound a lot, but the company had secured contracts over over £5m just days before.
If HM Govt had any influence over the banks, apart from just giving them large cheques the banks would have to go through Govt before making decisions like this.
Wrekin undertake a lot of public sector contracts, exactly the type of work the Government are supposed to be ploughing billions into to get the economy going again. A large amount of public sector work in Wakefield has now ground to a halt too.
Edited by daveyjp on 14/03/2009 at 08:59
|
|
|
|
|
There is if you look hard enough. (clue go to the news page and click on England)
|
|
|
|
|
|
I wonder how much will now be spent sorting the mess out? Perhaps RBS would like to contribute, having effectively caused the problem..?
|
The company I work for also has a couple of Wrekin jobs on the go at the moment which have ground to a halt. One thing which is for sure, the fact tha Wrekin were in trouble was a closley gaurded secret, and I doubt the Welsh Assembly would have been aware 'for months'. We heard rumours about a week before it was announced in the press. Other contractors probably knew slightly earlier.
Its a very unfortunate situation in the consruction industry. The average profit made by contractors in that market is in the region of 1.5% - very low by any standard, which makes cash flow very difficult in the current climate. It also puts the '£5m worth of orders' into perspective.
Personally dont belive RBS were to blame. They would have extended credit if there was any chance of them getting their money back.
|
"They would have extended credit if there was any chance of them getting their money back"
Not much chance for those of us not fulfilling government contracts, then!
|
The bridge would probably never have got used anyhow!
And if you know or knew that stretch of road you'll probably find that it will - it forms part of a well used National Cycle Path which was horrendously hazardous as cyclists had to dodge main road traffic and actually cross two carriageways.
Rumour has it that Richard Brunstrom had some influence in improvements here. A Google brought this up.
The second thing we did arose from my experience a couple of months ago on the north coast cycleway, which some long time readers will recall I recounted in one of my earliest Blogs. Briefly the UK is creating a national cycle network. Route 5 goes along the north Wales coast, ending at Holyhead. The network is being promoted for the UK government by the national charity Sustrans, which in Wales is also supported by the Welsh Assembly. The section between Conwy and Llanfaifechan is incomplete, because of the difficulty and expense of getting a dedicated cycle track around two headlands, Pen y Clip and Penmaenbach (the Romans didn?t even attempt them, and went over the hills behind instead). These two gaps are regarded by Sustrans as the two worst locations in Wales. The current situation is extremely dangerous, and is a disaster waiting to happen.
To her enormous credit, the Minister accepted my challenge to cycle along this section with me, to check out the situation for herself. We completed the ride in good order, aided by a stiff tailwind and glorious sun (which always shines on the righteous, as you know). It wasn?t quite as terrifying as the previous occasion, because the Assembly had cunningly closed the eastbound carriageway of the A55 around Pen y Clip for repairs, so we were spared the exciting experience of sharing the live running lane with London-bound heavy goods? vehicles, hurtling past a mere metre or so from one?s shoulder, but I think the point was made. The local senior road engineer, himself a cyclist, accompanied us for part of the trip, to his credit as well in my opinion.
I await further developments with interest. I?ll keep you posted.
|
|
i just hope that the two roundabouts will still be removed at Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan this was put on hold mainly down to the bridges, they might even sort out the chicane into Dwygyfylchi thats always a good hold your breath and pray moment that gets the old juices flowing
|
|
I read somewhere last week that the roundabouts are to be deleted.
|
This fascinating tale continues:
tinyurl.com/bz9la5
|
|
|
|
