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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 12:19 am
by Ted
I just put an application in to my local planning authority to build a few houses on a plot I own and convert a barn...
The bloody county council ecologist wrote back to say she was concerened about bats (99% sure there aren't any), newts (the photo she sent was well out of date and the lake she mentions belongs to my neighbour who filled it in recently) and wild birds.
I don't mind doing my bit to be a bit eco-friendly but a poor farmer down the road who just got planning to turn a barn in to two holiday-let flats, has been told that if a bird nests in said barn during construction, all work must stop until the next migratory season.
Maybe I have been in Africa too long but I am not used to stopping projects for a few birds... seems madness to me but then I live in Africa and kill chickens for a bite to eat...
Is it right or madness?
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 12:23 am
by henpecked
We had bats on one job, couldnt demo a detached 4 bedder until they had '....left of their own accord' Hessian sack and canal came to mind 
There was only one there IIRC
It does put the brakes on jobs nicely, a few could have steamed on and we would have been left hanging in winter, so it has its good points.
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 9:21 am
by ilovesettsonmondays
ive worked on a cpl of new by pass jobs a few years ago . the amount of money they spent on making runs for the great crested newt crazy . suppose its all in the bill .
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 2:50 pm
by GB_Groundworks
Every new build we do you are talking few thousand for surveys or bat boxes etc
Right pain but preserving native species
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 8:26 pm
by rab1
Rolls Royce (engine side/aroespace) had to stop a new factory build until the Swans eggs had hatched and the young left site. 4mth delay.
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 10:21 pm
by lutonlagerlout
I heard a story that when they were building the arndale in luton the lads found a medieval graveyard
the subby explained the situation and the potential loss of 3 months work and suddenly no-one remembered finding anything
i suppose thats why these days the beard and glasses brigade are there when you dig in certain spots
we dug a 1m3 hole for a tree next to priory house dunstable see here we had 3 of them sifting every spade of dirt 
needless to say we found not a lot except dirt!!
LLL
Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 8:37 am
by Stumpyclifford
Ahh the Priory, Arndale, memories, I used to live in Houghton Regis and Dunstable haven't been back there for over 20 years, now in Cornwall
Regards
Cliff
Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 5:16 pm
by lutonlagerlout
do you remember cliff fields?
he was famous once but died recently,broke alcoholic and punch drunk 
the cabaret used to get very lively in the harvest home on a friday,if you ever drank there you know what i mean
cheers LLL
Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:59 am
by seanandruby
Now there was a real hard man. all the 'hard men' rated him. He beet the guv'ner Lenny Mc. have you read his book, a cut above? going to order it today.
Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:10 am
by lutonlagerlout
I sort of knew cliff from the 80;'s when he was still doing the doors, kitts inn is one place i remember him at
he was used and abused by money men then tossed aside
I am pretty sure he sparred with Ali when he was in england and held his own, it was sad to see him in recent years as the drink had taken hold big time
I didnt make it to the funeral but by all accounts it was a massive do
LLL
Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:18 am
by Stumpyclifford
lutonlagerlout wrote:do you remember cliff fields?
he was famous once but died recently,broke alcoholic and punch drunk
the cabaret used to get very lively in the harvest home on a friday,if you ever drank there you know what i mean
cheers LLL
Hi LLL
Had to dodge Cliff Fields once or twice, I can remember "back in the day" an ex-copper took on the Harvest and had him in to sort out the "Herberts" i went in for a beer and the pub was empty, saw Cliff sat in the corner and promptly turned around, left and went up the Chequers, apparently he twatted every one that went in there.
I "grew up" in the Harvest used to live 3 doors down from it.
I,m so glad I live in Cornwall now.
I used to build tennis courts, so if your around my age (57) you may even know of me.
Regards
Cliff
Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:43 am
by Stumpyclifford
Just done a search for a review on the Harvest, doesn't seem that much different from when I used to use it.
Read below.
What a shambles. Will never go back. This is the sort of bar you go to until your Giro runs out. If you don't get hammered on the beer, you will when you leave once its dark.
This pub is now under new management, and is trying it is best turn around. it has be decorated throughout. new beer pumps put in. quiz nites on a Thursday nite. and disco and kareoke will be taking off soon. there is more people going in to this pub now then ever before. well done to the new owners. no trouble is permitted in this pub now. first sign of trouble and the land lord kicks them out.
if u want to get stabbed , glassed , have abuse thrown at you
THIS IS YOUR VENUE
A REAL DANGEROUS SHIT HOLE WITH THE LIKES OF THE V'S BEING THE LOCALS SO AVOID
god awful but popular with the underclasses, just looking/walking past it is bad enough, cant see why anyone with sense would visit. 0/10.
Harvest Home? More commonly known to locals as the Harvest Hole! Several broken windows, teenagers sitting outside on the wall which has been re-inforced with metal owing to it being damaged so many times.
Doesn't look particularly inviting a place to go drinking in!
Sounds about right.
Regards
Cliff
Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 11:05 am
by lutonlagerlout
I'm a bit younger than you cliff 42 but you may have known my uncle "dave walpole" RIP he would have been 56 now
i know there was 1 fella in that pub that fathered kids by 9 different women (jeremy kyle where are ya?) a lot of my cousins grew up round tithe farm road and they have mainly ended up in and out of jail with all the usual problems that affect the underclass
do you remember the thatched cottage opposite the chequers?
i rebuilt the crooked chimney on that a few years ago in lime mortar,that was an interesting job
i grew up in stopsley so we had "tin town" and the straw plaiters
similar routine to the harvest,windows went in once a month,kids on motorbikes in the pub,2 lads came in with a sack barrow and stole the fruit machine
I bet cornwall is a breath of fresh air
LLL
Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 11:42 am
by Stumpyclifford
Cant say I recognise the name of Dave Walpole although i've never been good with names.
"I bet cornwall is a breath of fresh air
LLL"
When I moved to Bodmin (23 yrs ago) it was because I didn't want my kids to grow up in that area and become glue sniffers etc, then after moving here I found out that Bodmin has more murders per capita than the rest of the UK!!!
I wouldn't want to live anywhere else now, I love it here, view from my house is over countryside/golf course/lanhydrock woodland, fields at back, 5 minute walk downhill to town and pubs, twenty minutes back, effing steep hill (taxi for a pint), genuinely friendly people, don't have to watch my back anymore, beautiful coastline North and South within 30 mins, no traffic, except Saturdays during summer school holidays, down side, I'm still earning the same as I did when I lived up country 20 yrs ago, moneys not everything.
Regards
Cliff