Friday 20 November 2009

Liverpools Canal Link; A Waste of Money.

THE WONKY JOURNEY. 17 million pounds of public money and it is wasted money. Our taxpayers money to split the Pier Head in two to take away the open green space. Yes I may hear you say it is unobtrusive but it is a cut through what was an open vista. This silly idea to link up fresh water with salt water was put forward by two obscure councillors and the Council and Liverpool Vision fell into the deep pool, of lack of thought and sold it to us with the help of the Oldham Echo and its sick little sister the Daily Ghost writer for the council. Funded by the NWDA along wit the new museum and the Three Black Slugs. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/07/mann-island-funds-new-museum-its-fact.html The original plans said it would have a recoverable finish that would enable open air concerts. This was dropped once the plans were passed, by guess who The "Dame of Disaster" the Cruella DeVille of Liverpools architecture Doreen Jones now living it up in Chester. Where her and Trevor http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/08/knock-me-down-with-feather-its-clever.html it is alleged live next door to the Duke of Westminster. She of the big hair still comes into Liverpool to have her barnet made larger by Herbert whose Bling building did not go to planning committee. The woman leaves us with a hole in the ground after she and Trevor teamed up with Windsor Developments(she owned Lamb and Sons that was knocked down over a weekend when a listing application was recieved. She did not care about anything but herself in my opinion and both of them were allowed to run the city and direct its planning where they thought fit. You did not stand a chance with this disgraceful woman passing what suited her and ignoring the public. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/03/superlambanana-land.html Only six barges at a time can use this link and all barges have to put up overnight while a British Waterways person comes and lets the waiting boats through in the morning at 6.45 a.m. Talk about making it difficult. It is no wonder that all the berths in front of the Albert Dock are empty. What a complete and utter waste of cash. http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/media/documents/LCL_Skippers_Guide_A3.pdf  Just follow the wonky journey on the British Waterways skippers guide and you will realise that navigating the shopping trolleys and lovely little creatures throwing halfies at the boats as you peacefully sail past the Strand is not quite worth it. 


12 comments:

  1. A very expensive white elephant which must be maintained for eternity. Narrow boat access to the Albert Dock was previously possible from the end of the Leeds-Liverpool canal, so why was this cut needed at all ? On a whim of a couple of councillors with other people's money to spend. We lost a fantastic open space for the benefit of a few boat trippers. Will the council let us know how much each barge journey is going to cost ?

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  2. The berths are empty because it is mid-November. No one is canal boating from pleasure at the moment nationally. But what do you know, the canal link is new and therefore Wayne hates it. Just as he hates every single new development that has been built in Liverpool for decades.

    I say again: stick to what you are good at - campaigning for the preservation of Liverpool's built heritage not attacking every single new building good or bad in the city. Successful cities have new buildings. Every single one, in the whole world. Deal with it. If the planner in the council had your insane opinions they'd have to reject every single building proposal every made to them (remember you hate ALL new buildings) and the city would die.

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  3. A canal link is not a building.
    No Mr Morrison because I have an opinion based on my architectural knowledge I along with my collegues at The Liverpool Preservation Trust have tried to save the world heritage from Architectural disaster. You will be telling us uou like the new museum funded by the three black slugs on Mann Island next.
    If you or any one you know could have been able to use classical materials in a modern manner I would have been silent...as it happens.

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  4. Wayne, name one building built in Liverpool in the last, say, forty years and still standings that you like?

    For pity's sake you are even attacking Liverpool university on this blog for wanting to build a student hall of residence on their own campus, as if that's a crime. I can't think of anything more appropriate and uncontroversial. What next, attacking a hospital for building wards or a school for building classrooms? Bizarre.

    For example you hate the entire 42 acre Liverpool One development despite it involving 40 buildings from twenty different architectural practices and many different architectural styles. They can't all be terrible! Yet you hate all of them.

    I don't know what "classical materials" means exactly, but, as you mention them (they're not necessarily my favourite new buildings in the city), the new MoL and the Mann Island scheme are notable in that they are, unlike most modern buildings worldwide, clad in stone.

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  5. Why dont you start the ball rolling by noting the buildings that you consider architectural gems in the last 40 years standing or not.

    I wrote that I was present at the planning committee meeting to hear several objectors critising the University. Some of whom taught there!

    Please dont put words into my mouth about hating the entire Grosvenor-pool development and if you do you will be mistaken. It is a bunch of shops after all, a Trafford Park in the City. The One Park Worst Building on Chavasse Lawn is trash you may agree and the fact it is in the world heritage site makes it.... A crime against architecture. The opinion is not just mine.

    If you believe that cladding something in stone makes them notable Henry then you have a lot to learn about architecture and this blog is a way of understanding that the garbage you are spoon fed by the local press bears no resemblence to what is good and bad architecture.
    Wayne

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  6. It is strange when you ask a writer for their opinion on good architecture they decline well its easy to understand the way the oligarchs got away with it. Most people are full of waffle and little substance there Mr Morrison.

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  7. Not sure whether we should allow people like Morrison to use this blog if he cant substantiate his claims. We want intellectual debate not sniping.

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  8. Decent buildings of the last forty years in Liverpool?

    Economic collapse was not kind to the quality of post-war Liverpool architecture, but of merit are, for example: the uni's sports centre, and its elec and electronic eng departments, some of the Royal hosp, including that gladius of a boiler room chimney, New Hall Place (the Sandcastle), Marks Barfields' watersports centre, the sadly now lost festival hall at Otterspool, JMU's Aldham Robarts, Avril Robarts and Peter Jost Centres, FACT, the Wildflower centre at Kirkby, the Bluecoat's new wing, the Bling building, Unity, the Matchbox at Speke, the Peter's Lane arcade and the Liverpool One Leisure and retail block.

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  9. Well God Help us if that is a World Heritage City that is back on the centre stage of world class architecture. I rest my case.

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  10. Oh Henry, I just decided to check your level of knowledge and and it seems you have picked up Quentins book City of Architecture and read the last 12 pages. Very original and very informed. As for the bling building..............

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  11. Where to start? Given your assumption that the list came from Professor Hughes' City Architecture (actually unlikely considering he was sadly dead before half of them were built) you must then be asserting that you have little respect for his opinion.

    Who claimed that modern Liverpool archiecture is world class. Liverpool has few wonderful post war buildings. A depressing aspect of Quentin's book, which I don't own but have flicked through in shops, is that one finds oneself's cantering rapidly through the final years of the C20th and Quentin's life in a last few pages. This, as I wrote, is mostly as a result of economic collapse.

    However, even if Liverpool had more good modern buildings you'd hate. Admit it, you hate the selection of decent-enough buildings I listed. You hate the good and the bad. No new building ever built in Liverpool will you do anything but attack.

    I ask again, prove me wrong, name a single building built in Liverpool that you don't hate? You can't because you hate them all.

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  12. Henry I am more than aware of when Quentin died.
    Why dont you stop telling me what I will and wouldnt hate if you dont like my opinions either come up with some decent arguments based on knowledge of architecture or go away its becoming boring.

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