BRFR Cake Stop 'breaking news' miscellany

[Psamathe]

And, if the Government can retrospectively change the terms of previously agreed contracts, why can't they just change the terms of many of the rip-off PFI contracts the Government agreed to?

It feels a bit different changing a law on a contract to which you are a party. Who would be prepared to undertake government contracts if the government could simply change the law to suit them at a future date?

Think I messed up and posted my comment to the wrong thread - should have been to the starmer thread about groundrent cap.

But I agree. Gov. is retrospectively changing the law of leasehold ground rent so why not on PFI contracts and save us all from a massive rip-off (that they agreed to on our behalf). Retrospective law changes make me "uncomfortable" where all parties freely entered into those agreements with full knowledge.

 

[C R]

Think I messed up and posted my comment to the wrong thread - should have been to the starmer thread about groundrent cap.

But I agree. Gov. is retrospectively changing the law of leasehold ground rent so why not on PFI contracts and save us all from a massive rip-off (that they agreed to on our behalf). Retrospective law changes make me "uncomfortable" where all parties freely entered into those agreements with full knowledge.

What law could the government change that would allow to cap PFI in the way ground rents are being capped?

 

[Psamathe]

What law could the government change that would allow to cap PFI in the way ground rents are being capped?

I've re-posted my comment starting the PFI aspect to the Starmer thread to avoiud same topic discussed in different places.

 

[Ian H]

View attachment 12655
Are you under water today Brian? This is allegedly near Topsham.

Not that far away, and a five minute walk from my house.

 

[briantrumpet]

Hardly a drop here.

The first photo is the main road to Exmouth from Exeter/Topsham.

The second photo is of the track beside the flood relief channel which was put in after the floods of 1960. It's a brilliant bit of engineering that calmly & efficiently gets enormous amounts of water away from St Thomas and Exe Bridges. More recently, they've erected barriers upstream of here where there's no width for a FRC that should protect St Thomas from a 100-year storm.

 

[First Aspect]

Not that far away, and a fiver minute walk from my house.
View attachment 12665

They repaired that canal breach faster than expected.

 

[First Aspect]

Hardly a drop here.

The first photo is the main road to Exmouth from Exeter/Topsham.

The second photo is of the track beside the flood relief channel which was put in after the floods of 1960. It's a brilliant bit of engineering that calmly & efficiently gets enormous amounts of water away from St Thomas and Exe Bridges. More recently, they've erected barriers upstream of here where there's no width for a FRC that should protect St Thomas from a 100-year storm.

View attachment 12666

View attachment 12667

Oh is that the weird bit of, er, land between the Exe and the canal?

 

[briantrumpet]

Oh is that the weird bit of, er, land between the Exe and the canal?

Yes. X marks the spot. The flood relief channel is the grassy bit with the rivulet that meanders through it. The Exe has two weirs and that large kink in it, hence the need for the FLC.

 

[briantrumpet]

Oops. Chandra opened up a sinkhole on the railway line near Dawlish, so it's closed yet again. One does wonder how long they can put off re-engineering the inland route to Plymouth via Okehampton, however complicated that would be. This damage is only a few years after major defensive works at Dawlish.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c23r2yv24j5o

 

[First Aspect]

Oops. Chandra opened up a sinkhole on the railway line near Dawlish, so it's closed yet again. One does wonder how long they can put off re-engineering the inland route to Plymouth via Okehampton, however complicated that would be. This damage is only a few years after major defensive works at Dawlish.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c23r2yv24j5o

View attachment 12680

I think that route is next to impossible. In addition it would create a link to fragments of existing lines that are wholly unsuited to fast trains, so would be less time effective for passengers than replacement busses. Plus it would probably cost a few hundred million pounds and who cares about the south west?

 

[briantrumpet]

I think that route is next to impossible. In addition it would create a link to fragments of existing lines that are wholly unsuited to fast trains, so would be less time effective for passengers than replacement busses. Plus it would probably cost a few hundred million pounds and who cares about the south west?

...which is probably why Brunel's pretty but pretty unsustainable line is still the only rail route into South Devon and Cornwall.

 

[First Aspect]

...which is probably why Brunel's pretty but pretty unsustainable line is still the only rail route into South Devon and Cornwall.

It is straight and exceptionally well engineered. The Dawlish line would be even better if the rails were still the right width apart (some of the original wider gauge track is set into the floor of the original GWR station at Temple Meads).

I am also not convinced that anything running over the north of Dartmoor would be much better under todays safety standards, given the number of bridges and tunnels needed. It is a moot point anyway, because it's not going to happen in our lifetimes.

 

[briantrumpet]

It is straight and exceptionally well engineered. The Dawlish line would be even better if the rails were still the right width apart (some of the original wider gauge track is set into the floor of the original GWR station at Temple Meads).

I am also not convinced that anything running over the north of Dartmoor would be much better under todays safety standards, given the number of bridges and tunnels needed. It is a moot point anyway, because it's not going to happen in our lifetimes.

All probably true.

Still better than the Ardeche, which does not have a single railway station in the entire département

 

[First Aspect]

All probably true.

Still better than the Ardeche, which does not have a single railway station in the entire département

Or most of North America. Or much of Scotland.