Listen to This What a friggin waste

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00r0vxg/File_on_4_02_03_2010/

Over to you Mike

Steve,

The images you have sent through show clearly that there are still outstanding defects that need to be attended to.

Contrary to various comments you have made on your blog I do care that this defective work is put right and I am not reluctant to sort it out.

It will be sorted out – as you know the contractor has done a considerable amount of work in correcting defects across the area over the last 9 months.  It is again obvious that there are still properties where further works are required.  These works will be done.  I am not moving on to any new pastures and will remain responsible and answerable to the KCIC, as will Acorn, until these issues are resolved.

I will keep you updated with what Acorn propose to do to put things right.

Regards,

Mike O’Connell

Partner,  BCA Landscape

A FairyTile of Fairfield

I moved into my present home over two years ago and one of the first things I did was to attend a meeting in the local schoolwith representatives from Kensington Regeneration and the Architects BCA Landscapes. We were there to see the new “improvments” whihc were being carried out in the area. We were shown some very nice drawings of trees, planters, parking bays, new walls and gates. Looked smashing, it would amke the area look miles better and best of all it was free. I even started attending the monthly “Consultation” meetings, where we could obviously further contribute to the process of regeneration.

The  whoel scheme was going to kick off in July 2008 and by the end it will have cost a mere £1.1 Million. Well the meetings seemed to be going well, we were asked adn told, and shown, but jsut before the work started there was a bit of bombshell, as it then was revealed that not every house was having the work done on them and a lot of the street furniture and changes were not happening either. Then we found out the the contract had been awarded to a local comapny called Acorn Building who were assured by Mike O’Connell, (the project manager from BCA Landscapes) that the company had done this type of work before, whichw asnt actually true (http://www.stepclever.co.uk/business/news/kirkdale-based-acorn-contract-services-wins-1-12m-gardens-contract.aspx the new machinery by the way was a £20,000 tramac machine). The work started and pretty soon it all started to unravel, to begin with there didnt seem to be many people on the job, the “Few” began in our street rebuilding the walls, and my first problem cam when a downspout pipe was broken and repaired with cement and gaffer tape, just before being buried under paving slabs. I got that sorted out and was told it was a “temporary repair” which it wasnt.

The next thing was the walls had concrete lintles put on them, the ones coming out perpendicular to the house was not laid even, (still hasnt be rectified) and the concrete block end finsihes rathe abruptly ( I was told this was a matter of aesthetics, not much consultation there).

The concrete lintles were painted….it rained and the paint washed off, they were painted again….it washed off again (Mike O’Connell laughes at this as it was obviosuly funny that painters had used the wrong paint twice). Third time lucky, the paint stayed although a little flakey.

The same men who built the wall then started laying the tiles and it became evident very quickly that they werent trained tilers. To cut a very long story short this matter was brought up time and time again, and we were assured that they would be sorted out in the snagging period or during the fault period., Mile O’Connell of BCA Landscapes seems to think these tiles are fine, I dont.

So any suggestiosn as to what we should be doing about these blasted tiles.

And the winner is, well it isnt Kensington

The Winter Olympics has jsut ended and we have won a single medal, it is gold and it is for an individual female. Interestingly for kensington and fairfield the last one was won in 1952 at Oslo by Jenatte Altwegg, who used the Liverpool Ice Rink on prescot road, (she also skated on frozen sefton park lake apparently).

Ok that was then this is now, and as the building “rapidly” progresses  on the new Neighbourhood Centre on the site of teh Ice Rink, you have to wonder whether the people in charge have their priorities right, £3million local regeneration money ploughed into a private venture out which they get none of the profit. and we end up with a fucking Iceland

“Gimme gimme gimme  me the medal now” as Muttley used to say.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannette_Altwegg

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article7034802.ece