Brouhaha in Bristol - Nimbyism isn't just American

[bikkuri bahn]

Residents in Stoke Gifford, England, are opposing a proposed maintenance facility to service Hitachi-built trains.  Once again, didn't these people think at all when they chose to live near a working railway, and in this case, what appears to be a major junction? They ignored the first principle of a good real estate investment decision, which is location, location, location!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-15818689

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=stoke+gifford&hl=en&ll=51.516715,-2.557862&spn=0.009881,0.02738&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=51.04407,78.662109&vpsrc=6&hnear=Stoke+Gifford,+Bristol,+South+Gloucestershire,+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=16

[angusmclean]

Good grief.  As if living beside busy rail lines already, AND at the end of the Bristol Airport runway isn't a sound problem already.  With noise embankments and trees to screen this site, I couldn't of a better place.

Angus

[marknewton]

They ignored the first principle of a good real estate investment decision, which is location, location, location!

Wankers. They also ignored the second principle - look out the window and see what's next door before you buy.

Reminds me of the mithering yuppies who moved in next door to our yard and maintenance depot at Eveleigh, then cried like babies about us being there. I had some great fun with those whingeing bastards.

Cheers,

Mark.

[Mr Frosty]

Tell us what you did.

[Webskipper]

Does property value rise or fall near train depots?

Wouldn't it raise tourism?

[keitaro]

Does property value rise or fall near train depots?

Wouldn't it raise tourism?

in japan maybe ..

[Mudkip Orange]

What an odd little estate. It does not appear there is any discernable difference between sidewalks, alleys, and peoples' driveways...

[marknewton]

Tell us what you did.

When I was lighting-up engines or preparing the train, I wouldn't make any extra effort to do things quietly, nor would I worry too much about making smoke. And on one occasion, when I was setting the safety valves on an engine after its annual boiler inspection, I deliberately parked the thing on the road closest to the boundary fence.

Our most strident complainer was some middle-aged hairdresser. She took great delight in throwing stones over the fence at us - until I gave her a squirt from the loco's deck hose in return. 

Cheers,

Mark.

[bikkuri bahn]

The saga continues:

Campaigner Leslie Cox said the group had "massive concerns" about the visual impact of the depot.

The main building would accommodate two full-length trains at once and would also include offices and storage space.

Several smaller buildings - for driver accommodation and train washes - are also part of the plan.

Oh heavens! , the place will have long nasty buildings, and hairy, unkempt drivers will be sleeping there- hide the children!

Ms Cox said: "We're concerned about noise pollution with klaxons going off, light and dust pollution and chemicals being washed into the stream.

Klaxons?  Where did she get that idea? As for the others, the place is a stinking rail site already, not a fricken rose garden.

"I would ask them to be sensible and pick a more appropriate site because we know there are more appropriate sites."

In other words, Not In My BackYard


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-13944557

[KenS]

Klaxons?

Clearly they've confused the British practice of referring to rescue locos as "thunderbirds" (as highlighted by Virgin's class 57s) with the original Thunderbirds:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/pLWpKImInAg" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/pLWpKImInAg</a>

Seems like an obvious mistake for a NIMBY to make.   

[Claude_Dreyfus]

NIMBYism seems part and parcel of life here in the UK.

A common issue are people (usually from big towns, who have made a small fortune) that move out to quaint little villages and then start complaining when the village church bells ring for the 08:00 service...then again for communion - approx 10-10:30 and then evensong - approx 18:30. Not to mention the hourly 'bong', which the church clock has been doing for the last couple of centuries or more! Did you not think to look at the sodding great big church dominating the village?!

Living by a railway, a road, or something like a church will have some negative disruption - I should know, I live by all three(!) but there is a very high chance all were there long before you were ever thought of.

Living at somewhere like Stoke Gifford, which already has engineers yards and the like there, it is an occupational hazard that something may be built there. But they are not alone...there are a huge number of engineering projects going on in the UK related to the railways... I hope the residents at Three Bridges in Sussex know that the huge engineers yard which is currently disused is going to be pulled up and replaced by something that makes this Bristol scheme look like a little branch line sub-shed.

Lets face it, two whole trains ain't a lot considering, but some people like to complain...

That said, I do feel some pity for those whose houses will be swept away by HS2. If and when it is built...

[bikkuri bahn]

Rail depot gets approval

CONTROVERSIAL plans for a rail depot near Parkway Station have been given the green light despite strong opposition from action group campaigners.

After more than two hours of deliberations, South Gloucestershire councillors approved the scheme which could create up to 170 jobs in the area and improve train connection on the London to Bristol line.

The planning application had been submitted by Hitachi Rail Europe to build a new maintenance shed and depot to park the new electric trains to be introduced on the Great Western line by 2017.

http://www.gazetteseries.co.uk/news/localnews/thornburynews/9514776.Rail_depot_gets_green_light/