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This page records the construction of what is now the
curiously named "Millers Thumb" flats and all the trouble
that the contractors - Mansell - caused us while building
work was underway.
Photos from 11
December 2005
The whole sorry
episode comes to an end. The site is handed over to the
housing association and the contractors have gone.
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Road clear
The contractors have gone and all the work on site is complete. This is as good as it is going to get! |
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Lovely views
The southern flats are just visible behind the lovely autumn colours in this beech tree |
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Photos from 3
December 2005
The contractors
have been busy with new road surfaces throughout and even
signs of new plants. Much of the contractors mess has been
cleared up ready for the new planting.
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South building
New railings and lights. Even a pile of turf waiting to be layed |
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North building
More new fences and lights. Note the 9 post boxes by the door |
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Parking area
This is the new parking area near the North building. Notice the shrubs waiting to be planted |
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Down the drive
Looking down towards Freeborn Way you can admire the new road surface and dropped kerb by our back gate |
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Photos from 12
November 2005
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Splash
Recent wet weather has made the road extremely muddy and the end of the drive still collects water. Perhaps this will change when they put the final surface on. |
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Cable ties
The cheeky developers tied electric cables to our fence back in May. They are still there and shouldn't be! |
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Back gate
Our back gates have been left high and dry since the pavement level was dropped. We also need a dropped kerb so that we can get vehicles in and out. |
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Mind the gap
Since the pavement level was dropped there is a big gap under our gates |
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Messy
The contractors vehicles have been driving over this bit of the path damaging the kerb and causing the surface to sink |
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North building
The North block now looks quite different from the earlier photos |
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South building
This one looks to be a bit crammed in against the trees |
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Clearing out
The contractor's offices have already gone as the contractors plan to leave the site at the end of November. |
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Photos from 8
May 2005
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Road clear
For the first time since Christmas our driveway is not being dug up or fenced in. The surface isn't the final one but it is better than it was |
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Plugged in
The developers are so cheeky. They wanted to run some cables to the construction site so just tied them to our fence - it would have been nice to have been asked |
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Sunken path
The new path outside the gate to the hall has already been damaged by the developers vehicles. Lets hope they put it right before they finish work. |
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Southern building
In the southern area the building is now taking shape |
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Photos from 3
April 2005
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New paths all round
New paths are springing up all over the site |
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Path to the hall
The trench has now been filled in and the path replaced |
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More new paths
The new flowerbed area now has a path round it |
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Park access
Presumably fed up with the locals knocking over the fences, the developers have now re-opened access to the park |
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Our entrance
The metal bridge over the trench at our gate has now gone but things are still a bit of a mess |
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No access
Our rear gates have been blocked off by trenches and building sites. Now that things are getting back to normal it appears that we still won't be able to use them as they are a lot higher than the path |
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Earth bank
The new path is a lot lower than the old grass verge - you can see the big earth bank at the side of the path. We don't know if this is how it will be left |
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South Garage Block
New surfaces are also appearing in the Southern Garage Block area although the building of the flats hasn't progressed much |
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Hose onto our land
The cheeky developers have solved their drainage problems by pumping water from the site onto our land. You can see from the state of the grass that quite a lot has already come our way |
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Good as new
All round Bullbrook new bits of tarmac have appeared where the heavy lorries from the site have destroyed the existing path. This area is only a few days old but already shows tyre tracks |
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Photos from 20
March 2005
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Across the bridge
Our tarmac entrance has now been replaced by a rather springy metal plate as the utilities are installed in the trench |
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Filled in
The main trench down what used to be the footpath has now been filled in |
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New flowerbed
The road layout up at the hall has been changed |
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Foundations
Foundations have now been layed in the South garage block area |
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There hasn't
been much to report in the last month as most of the work is
now being carried out away from our immediate area. The
street light outside the hall is still not connected meaning
that cars have to manoeuvre round the fences in the dark.
Photos from 20
February 2005
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The new road
The builders promised us a tarmac road and that is what we've got |
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South Garages access
Although our drive is narrow with the temporary fences there is plenty of room up at the top |
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North Garages
The new access roads should allow plenty of parking space - although it will be dark with no street light at the top of the drive |
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Our gate
At the moment access to our gate is not disrupted but we believe that the trench will extend across our access |
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Work continues
Now the road is back our temporary path has been removed to allow cable laying |
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Cut off
Down at our back gate things aren't so good. The new road is about 2' lower than the old road so access would be difficult even if the fences and trench weren't there |
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Looking west down Freeborn Way
It certainly looks better now the fences have been moved to the side |
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Materials on the roadway again
This time the pile of stones is protected behind fences. There is room to turn round as the other turning area is clear |
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Photos from 13
February 2005
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The new driveway
It is definitely coming on |
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View from the hall
Almost looks like a proper road - but it isn't quite finished yet |
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New neighbours
Opposite the hall some new people have moved in |
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The tarmac machine
The tarmac laying machine is still here so the developers may still make their 14 Feb deadline |
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Materials on the roadway
Oh dear, once again the hammerhead is blocked by a loose pile of stones |
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No trench
For the first time in about 6 weeks Freeborn Way has no trench and no barriers |
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Bit of a bodge
Heavy lorries from the site have taken their toll on the pavement. I hope this isn't the finished job |
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News on the
streetlights from the man at the council:
The underground
cable had to be cut in the course of laying the road, which
has resulted in the remaining light no longer working and
there being no electricity at the site. On Friday 18
February, electricity and other services are scheduled to be
laid at the site, and a temporary connection will be made to
enable the street light half way down Freeborn Way to work.
Photos from 6
February 2005
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It isn't just us that is being inconvenienced
The welcome sight of the Freeborn Way trench being filled in is not good news for this disabled resident. It also means parking for dropping off at the hall is a bit tricky |
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The kerbs are in
Work is continuing to reinstate the road. Remember the developers have promised us a proper road with tarmac top by 14 February... |
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The Freeborn Ski Jump
Will the developers fill in the "ski jump" at the end of the drive? Hard to tell at the moment. |
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Danger
Even when these fences are standing properly they do not protect the edge of the path meaning that it would be easy to slip into the excavations |
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In addition to
the narrow path and dangerous gaps in the fence the
developers have now turned off the street lights meaning
that you have to feel your way along the fence up the
temporary path to get to the hall. Not one of their better
ideas...
Photos from 30
January 2005
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Mud sticks
Residents in the surrounding streets are now finding that Freeborn Way mud is making their road dirty |
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Looking up Freeborn Way
Not a lot seems to change here. The trench is still in the road and the road is still muddy |
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Road construction
The new road is under construction. We're told it will be done and have a tarmac top by 14 February |
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Our hall access is rather narrow
The developers built us a temporary path and have now fenced off some of it |
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Looking back from the hall
The view down the site into Freeborn Way. |
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The narrow path
From this view you can see how narrow the path has become since the fences were moved |
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South garages
The area is now clear but very muddy |
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Space to turn
The new road layout includes a turning area where the field used to be |
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Update at 25
January 2005
The developers
have now shared their project plan with the group (a copy is
displayed in the hall). They tell us:
all
works to the access road to the hut will be completed by the
14th Feb including tarmac surfacing.
Update at 23
January 2005
No new photos
this week as disappointingly it is all much the same.
Despite promises, the developers have still not restored the
road way and it is still impossible to turn round because
the "hammerhead" areas are still full of building materials.
The developer needs a licence to store materials on the
roadway and should have them fenced off to protect the
public but again he seems to have got away with it.
The press are interested in the situation - we had a
good piece in the
Bracknell Standard this week.
Photos from 16
January 2005
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A general view of the area
Now, what's changed since we were last here? |
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Lots of signs
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At least we now know who to complain to!
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A new path
The muddy grass verge has been covered in a temporary path |
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A better surface
This should provide safer access to the hall |
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Mind the edge
You've still got to be careful not to slip off the edge into the excavations |
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The main site
Looking towards the North garage block area |
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Rather wet
The Southern garage block area is a muddy mess |
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Looking up Freeborn Way
The trench is only temporarily filled in. Could make things difficult if we try to get to the hall |
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Down the hill
Not much room for cars to park |
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Nowhere to turn to
The "hammerhead" turning areas are full of materials |
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Not here either
Turning round when all the parents are hoping to collect or drop off will still be difficult |
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Update at 12 January 2005
We have been told that half of the roadway will be restored
to a stony surface and the site will be securely fenced by
the end of this week. We hope that this will allow meetings
to resume at the hall although access for parents parking
will still be difficult.
We're not sure the developers are living up to this section
from their website:
Social responsibility:
At Mansell we understand that
we have a responsibility to those we work with, those
who work for us and those who are affected by our
work. We consider the effects of our actions at every
stage of every project to reduce any negative impacts
and provide positive change for the environment, local
community and other stakeholders.
Photos from 9 January 2005
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Freeborn Way on 9 January
The developers have now removed all the roadway outside the hall |
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You can just get to the gate
There is only a narrow footpath which ends at our gate. If emergency vehicles has to attend there is no way they could get to the hall |
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View from the hall
Access to the hall is maintained up the grass verge. However, the safety fence has already fallen over and would you fancy walking up here in the dark? |
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Fenced off
2nd Bracknell behind the wire |
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Photos from 5 January 2005
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No more games on the field outside the hall
The field area is now the site office and storage area - and very muddy! |
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Looking down Freeborn Way from the hall
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Half of the road outside the hall has been removed
The developers will be fencing off this area |
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Heavy plant
The road area also provides parking space for some of the diggers |
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Photos from 3 January 2005
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As it used to be
The driveway outside the hall before construction work began |
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View from the playground
This is the view into the northern garage area |
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Northern Garages
The concrete base has already been broken up |
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Another view of the Northern block
The residents of Parkland Drive can see right through for now |
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Southern Block
Behind the hall things are in a similar condition |
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Rather wet
With the concrete broken up there seems to be a lot of water around. Is it rain water or from the springs? |
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Background
We
are disappointed to hear that the council have granted planning
permission to the developers who want to turn the garage
areas near our hall into warden controlled flats. The group
objected to the development on the grounds that the design
chosen is not in keeping with the area, the use of the flats
is not appropriate for this area and because of future security
concerns for our hall.
We understand that plans do not
include enough car parking spaces for all the flats so it
is likely that the area outside our hall will be used, making
things difficult for us. We also know that access will be
via Freeborn Way which will mean that traffic may be trying
to pass our hall while we are arriving and leaving.
We will be lobbying the council and developers to ensure
that access to our hall is maintained during the development
work. Since the plans include converting the field opposite
the hall into gardens and car parking it is inevitable that
we will be inconvenienced during construction. At present
we do not have a timescale for this work. We will keep you
posted.
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