Off-Topic III: The Revengening!

[Psychosplodge]

Needs a Supernatural gif in there.

You are quite correct.

[Wolfshade]

No idea what the linky is wildey

[Mr Mystery]

[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-28397822]End of an era in Royal Tunbridge Wells[/url]

The old ABC Cinema is coming down, after 14 years of seemingly purposeful neglect.

And as grotty as the building is, I'm genuinely sad to see it go. Nicely art deco on the inside, it's frankly criminal that the successive owners have been allowed to just let it rot so.

Of course what doesn't help is the more than slightly shady dealings between Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and Odeon (who opened a 'just out of town' multiplex, on the proviso they didn't close down the in town one, until reasons) that nobody else could establish a cinema there. Why? Nobody really knows, but I kind of suspect some kind of brown envelope that may or may not have contained some form of hard currency may or may not have changed hands, allegedly.

It sucks. There is literally nothing to do in the centre of town of an evening, other than restaurants and pubs and clubs. Gone are the days of 'bored, I'll wander into town and catch a film'. Very sad.

[Psychosplodge]

Unfortunately planning runs on brown envelopes.
I know of a case where someone on the edge of a village wanted to add a smallish two story extension to their two bed house so they could give each child a bedroom (boy and girl) without moving. Knocked back as its green belt.
Six months later next door but one starts work on an extension twice size as the one they had knocked back.
Obviously no corruption there.

[Wolfshade]

Planning is a bit of a joke really.

[Mr Mystery]

Indeed.

Take the dualling, or lack thereof, of the A21.

For reasons there's a stretch between Tunbridge Wells and it's older, far lass attractive and indeed somewhat frumpy, dole queue occupying sister town Tonbridge, which is still single carriage way.

Why it wasn't dualled when the rest of it was has never really be discussed, but it is now finally going ahead.

Again, my bet? Someone in a position to influence things made it so, because money or otherwise reasons. It's a total bottleneck, especially given that the A21 is quite a major road in the area, running from Nodnol down to Hastings.

[Wolfshade]

The solution to congestion is not building more roads.

It has been proven countless times the more road capacity you build the more you end up with more road users and more congestion issues.

[Psychosplodge]

yes it's replacing anti car councils with sensible individuals who'll not set the lights up so you're stopped by every set and artificially slowing traffic, and then at same time complaining about air pollution in the area from all the queuing vehicles...

[Mr Mystery]

yes it's replacing anti car councils with sensible individuals who'll not set the lights up so you're stopped by every set and artificially slowing traffic, and then at same time complaining about air pollution in the area from all the queuing vehicles...

Roundabouts wherever possible please.

[Wolfshade]

I love and loath islands. On the one hand they massively more efficient than traffic light junctions (though if your incoming traffic volumes is not loaded evenly you can essentially close off junctions).

But roundabouts take up a lot of room comparitively, lane discipline is laughable and they are less pedestrian friendly than traffic lights