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Martha Gunn
Barsoom


232 Posts

Posted - 29/06/2007 :  21:39:48  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
The paving slabs come from China. Can we be assured that they were not mined using children, who were paid pittence, and worked under dangerous conditions?

I hope so.

Even if they were dug out of the ground using child labour bordering on slavery, at least its given New Road a con-ti-nen-tal flavour so its all good isn't it.

Could the slabs not have come from up north or was rock sourced 1000's of miles away explicitly specified by the scandinavian consultants?

long time no see
Earthsea



United Kingdom
6771 Posts

Posted - 29/06/2007 :  21:44:44  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
China
I guess that saved them Big Money.


Sign Of The Times.
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Infinite Poppadum
Discworld



1339 Posts

Posted - 29/06/2007 :  22:01:43  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Have the slabs been tested for the weight of taxis?
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Martha Gunn
Barsoom



232 Posts

Posted - 29/06/2007 :  22:48:04  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Infinite Poppadum

Have the slabs been tested for the weight of taxis?



well, they certainly stain like every other slab in Brighton!
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caeos
Barsoom



159 Posts

Posted - 30/06/2007 :  01:16:49  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
ok, if this is meant to be a car free road, why put - at each end- the flying motorbike signs that are so high up you need to be on the upper deck of a bus to read them?
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Captain Hawkeye
Barsoom



United Kingdom
391 Posts

Posted - 30/06/2007 :  10:41:00  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Martha Gunn

The paving slabs come from China. Can we be assured that they were not mined using children, who were paid pittence, and worked under dangerous conditions?

I hope so.

Even if they were dug out of the ground using child labour bordering on slavery, at least its given New Road a con-ti-nen-tal flavour so its all good isn't it.

Could the slabs not have come from up north or was rock sourced 1000's of miles away explicitly specified by the scandinavian consultants?



Not just children. Prison labour and general working conditions that would never be acceptable in Europe.
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Daveb
Earthsea



2420 Posts

Posted - 30/06/2007 :  18:48:24  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
It is just as bad to deal with China than to give a few bribes to the Arabs to sell our arms.
Lets face it where would you like to live.
By transferring industry to China and fuelling its economy the west has created a far more dangerous animal.

Cheap goods will cost us dear in the end.

We're all doomed!
Head for the hills before they start heading for you!
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Miriam Binder
Earthsea



United Kingdom
6133 Posts

Posted - 30/06/2007 :  18:50:37  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
China and the rest of the far East is the up and coming world power ... Mark my words!

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin
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Daveb
Earthsea



2420 Posts

Posted - 30/06/2007 :  18:53:58  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
We need to rebuild our own industry now and stop importing.

We're all doomed!
Head for the hills before they start heading for you!
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long time no see
Earthsea



United Kingdom
6771 Posts

Posted - 30/06/2007 :  18:55:52  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Daveb

We need to rebuild our own industry now and stop importing.




That will Never happen
under Corrupt New Labour UK Power.
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Miriam Binder
Earthsea



United Kingdom
6133 Posts

Posted - 30/06/2007 :  18:57:03  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Daveb

We need to rebuild our own industry now and stop importing.

Certainly we do ... but can you see us stopping the importation of cheap, albeit shoddy, goods?

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin
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Daveb
Earthsea



2420 Posts

Posted - 30/06/2007 :  18:58:44  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Just an idealistic thought.
The cost would be huge.
The result of fuelling the Far East economy may be greater in the long term.

We're all doomed!
Head for the hills before they start heading for you!
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Miriam Binder
Earthsea



United Kingdom
6133 Posts

Posted - 30/06/2007 :  19:02:02  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
No, not just idealistic ... it certainly should be the way we do things. I am very much afraid though that it may be too late to reverse the trend and that we will certainly see them emerge as a world power, certainly economically.

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin
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long time no see
Earthsea



United Kingdom
6771 Posts

Posted - 30/06/2007 :  19:07:17  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Never happen sadly.
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Miriam Binder
Earthsea



United Kingdom
6133 Posts

Posted - 30/06/2007 :  19:10:21  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by long time no see

Never happen sadly.

What will never happen LTNS?

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin
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long time no see
Earthsea



United Kingdom
6771 Posts

Posted - 30/06/2007 :  19:20:41  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Return to the Old days
without imports.
That will never happen
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Miriam Binder
Earthsea



United Kingdom
6133 Posts

Posted - 30/06/2007 :  19:30:30  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
No, I'm afraid you are right.

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin
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Captain Hawkeye
Barsoom



United Kingdom
391 Posts

Posted - 01/07/2007 :  18:43:28  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Some background information about the New Road development and people behind it.

http://www.brightonbusiness.co.uk/htm/ni20070623.683630.htm

http://www.riba.org/go/RIBA/About/RIBALondon_3935.html
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Daveb
Earthsea



2420 Posts

Posted - 01/07/2007 :  18:57:08  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Amazing really.

A paved space, a few benches and how much did it cost to design and build?

Mind boggling cost for a glorified patio!

Experts! Huh!

We're all doomed!
Head for the hills before they start heading for you!
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Captain Hawkeye
Barsoom



United Kingdom
391 Posts

Posted - 01/07/2007 :  19:18:50  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Daveb

Amazing really.

A paved space, a few benches and how much did it cost to design and build?

Mind boggling cost for a glorified patio!

Experts! Huh!



I would have been nice for some of the talent in Brighton to get the credit for that.
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fartin1976
Alagaësía



United Kingdom
96 Posts

Posted - 02/07/2007 :  11:34:23  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Designing and building anything in the UK is expensive, have you had a builder around your house recently? Well it is an expensive place to live.

It is ok though my engineering company is sending most of its design work to India as people of Britain don’t like paying the going rate for British design, the same way they don’t like paying the going rate for British granite and import it from China.
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steve71
Alagaësía



5 Posts

Posted - 02/07/2007 :  13:37:18  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
...and that's not to mention the cost of the construction work. Believe me, as a New Road resident who's had the misfortune to wake to the sound of angle grinders for the last 8 months, the most infuriating waste of budget went on a workforce who never appeared to spend more than 50% of the day actually doing anything...that adds up on a project of this length...
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fartin1976
Alagaësía



United Kingdom
96 Posts

Posted - 02/07/2007 :  14:33:41  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Yes, that is an excessively long construction period but it is the same everywhere. Contractors keep spreading themselves really thinly over loads of sites as there is so much work and no labour available.

A junction in London we designed the upgrade for has been on temporary lights for 6 months now. It should have only taken 2 months to replace three islands, the signals and controller!
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Miriam Binder
Earthsea



United Kingdom
6133 Posts

Posted - 02/07/2007 :  14:51:53  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
A gap in the labour market? Here in Britain where everyone is eager to work?

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin
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steve71
Alagaësía



5 Posts

Posted - 04/07/2007 :  10:43:27  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by fartin1976

Yes, that is an excessively long construction period but it is the same everywhere. Contractors keep spreading themselves really thinly over loads of sites as there is so much work and no labour available.

A junction in London we designed the upgrade for has been on temporary lights for 6 months now. It should have only taken 2 months to replace three islands, the signals and controller!




I'm sure this is all true, but in the case of New Road, I can assure you, the size of the workforce wasn't the issue (except on Saturdays & Sundays when 2 fellas turned up to scratch their arses and drink tea all morning)...the issue was more to do with how little the majority of the workforce were actually doing. As a benchmark, the amount of work that got done in the week leading up to the Queen's visit was about 5 times that of any other week during the project...once she'd been and gone we returned to the 'go slow' ethic.
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Infinite Poppadum
Discworld



1339 Posts

Posted - 19/07/2007 :  12:10:09  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
The restaurant at the corner of North street has been painted white again nd so have the columns outside it. This looks much better. For a while it had been a very depressing green out of keeping with the area.
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