Newbury building site

Are they sure???

Something is happening to Parkway- but will it spoil the skyline and dwarf the historic market town?

The girls at the Corn Exchange will tell you YCB loves the movies! But even as a cineholic, do I approve of the building? What would Kevin McCloud say? It dwarfs the whole of historic Cheap Street? It hides the ugly Kennet Centre? It competes with the ugly Kennet Centre?

I was pleased they chose reflective metal instead of hideous primary coloured plastic for a facade, but hey, how HUGE is this building?? IT BELONGS OUT OF TOWN . Ever since I stood (And was defeated) for the council, I opposed having a cinema in Newbury, I think a leisure complex at Greenham Airbase would have been ideal, with food court,parking, opportunities for other sporting facilities to be built there. Nobody listened! My second proposal would be to have built in Thatcham by the Lower Way Bowling etc. Again, nobody agreed.

Imagine if it were out of town...........

The town would not be in the shadow of this giant,

the corn exchange cinema would have no competition,

there would be ample parking..........

The opposition said they wanted to have cinema goers use the bus and train instead of car!

Well, at £4 each way by bus, and I have no idea how much it costs to Thatcham by train, but after a late movie you'd need a taxi from the station to your house. If you leave the kids you would need a baby sitter at £4.50 an hour. If you take the kids , a family of 4 going to the cinema would be around approx £5 per seat . That is £20 before you start. Do you want coke, pop corn, hot dog? This is a recession people. You do the maths, I don't need to. I'm telling you it is UNAFFORDABLE. But hey, the good people of West Berks did not vote for me, they voted Lib Dem in my parish...... On their heads it be.

The earlier stages of Parkway.....

People stop me and chat in the street and tell me they have heard only Debenhams has committed to the Parkway centre- I can't comment, I don't know. But I do know, Newbury needs high quality shops, to draw in people from out of town, it needs no more Charity Emporiums, and no more Italian Eateries!!!

I do know that Woolworths with it's prime location is still EMPTY.

And one last rant.

Why not turn some of the hoards of empty offices in Green Park and Reading into flats? You would get your xk new homes in the Thames Valley in one fell swoop!Thus saving our brown belt and making it GREEN.

If you are new to" the Ripples", then dear reader, write to your local councillor and beg him/her not to build the Art Pav in Victoria park!To save the boating pond. Not to build houses on the Racecourse, and bug , bug, bug. Write to the Newbury Weekly news, air your views! Leave a comment on here.

There are councillors with their eye on the blog!