Councillors have approved £2million Charles Street proposal (From Dorset Echo)
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Councillors have approved £2million Charles Street proposal
5:17pm Thursday 25th October 2012 in News
COUNCILLORS have approved proposals to spend up to £2million of taxpayers' money to support the controversial Charles Street development.
At a heated full council meeting of West Dorset District Council this afternoon members voted by a majority in favour of a series of amended proposals put forward by developers Simons in relation to the second phase of the scheme.
The amendments included the council funding up to £2million of preparatory works including relocating the Dorchester Community Church.
Other changes include replacing the hotel in the original plans for the scheme with 24 apartments and scrapping the lower deck of basement car parking with additional spaces at the Fairfield Market car park replacing it.
See Friday's Echo for the full story.
Comments(39)
alfiesmont
says...
6:32pm Thu 25 Oct 12
cj07589
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7:00pm Thu 25 Oct 12
Dorset Boy
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7:00pm Thu 25 Oct 12
snowleopard
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7:49pm Thu 25 Oct 12
JamesYoung
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8:04pm Thu 25 Oct 12
JamesYoung
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8:05pm Thu 25 Oct 12
JamesYoung
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8:07pm Thu 25 Oct 12
And seems strange that Gould doesn't want to crow about this success.
dontbuyit
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9:31pm Thu 25 Oct 12
pd7
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9:58pm Thu 25 Oct 12
They could also go down in history in turning dorset into a nice place to live with a local gvmnt that listens
Verbose
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10:40pm Thu 25 Oct 12
It has taken 30 years to get this far with the development of Charles Street. I don't know what undertakings the developers have given to complete the development but this should now proceed as quickly as possible or the area will remain the mess that it is for another 30 years. It is time to move on.
mr commonsense
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8:04am Fri 26 Oct 12
If this was Mr Goulds money he would never have invested in this scheme to begin with.
I hope and pray Simons go bust as this seems to be the only thing that WDDC will not be able to defend.
In view of the hostility in West Dorset
the time has come to change this rotten lot and I would add the Council officials as well. These people seem to have only been interested in new offices.
SHAMEFUL, a disgrace, sad, and a monument to dictatorship. Are we really living in a third world country?
Phaedrus
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10:28am Fri 26 Oct 12
annotator1
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10:45am Fri 26 Oct 12
cj07589
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11:49am Fri 26 Oct 12
mr commonsense wrote:Yes, we are living under a dictatorship under the guise of a democracy. We need a revolution to rebalance the rife corruption and injustices that are culturally ingrained in the so called civil service who are mostly concerned about feathering their own nests and interests.
Should we be surprised? If this was Mr Goulds money he would never have invested in this scheme to begin with. I hope and pray Simons go bust as this seems to be the only thing that WDDC will not be able to defend. In view of the hostility in West Dorset the time has come to change this rotten lot and I would add the Council officials as well. These people seem to have only been interested in new offices. SHAMEFUL, a disgrace, sad, and a monument to dictatorship. Are we really living in a third world country?
Fred Kite
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12:57pm Fri 26 Oct 12
banknote
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1:50pm Fri 26 Oct 12
Why has Cllr Gould refused to appear on local TV, on several occasions, to defend the Councils decision?
I assume that by his silence he cannot defend it?
Meanwhile the rest of us will wait for Simons to go bust - and we're back to square one, once more - with millions wasted.
portland rebel
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3:08pm Fri 26 Oct 12
westendcat
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5:12pm Fri 26 Oct 12
1. £900K predevelopment costs allowed to Simons
2. £250k planning fees allowed to Simons
3. £500k increase in tender costs
4. £2.5m shortfall in the sale of Stratton House
5. £100k per annum holding costs for
Stratton House
6. £2m further allowance to Simons at
yesterdays Council meeting
7. The fettering of future development
value of Middle Fairfield because it
now totally committed to parking.
And these are the costs we know about!!. Bet there are numerous others.
kildare43
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5:41pm Fri 26 Oct 12
JamesYoung
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6:03pm Fri 26 Oct 12
Say NO
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9:29pm Fri 26 Oct 12
http://www.facebook.
com/saynotocharlesst
reet
CoogarUK.com
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12:11am Sat 27 Oct 12
banknote
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12:37pm Sat 27 Oct 12
JamesYoung wrote:Well James, I'm betting on there will be further losses from Simons - and they will require further cash from WDDC.
Simons next accounts are published on 21 Dec. watch this space.
What will Councillor Gould say then ??
thetiger
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12:50pm Sat 27 Oct 12
westendcat
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3:24pm Sat 27 Oct 12
Cllrs Gould and Junquis are being led by the nose by inept officers hell bent on saving their own skins.
As for the construction of the new offices, have all of the leaks in the structure been contained? Has the application of numerous cans of sealant provided a temporary solution, only to re-appear after practical completion of the project has been accepted by the Council - what a shambles!
The cost of this fiasco is going to be borne by generations of WDDC ratepayers for years to come and Simons will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Own up, WDDC you've failed yet again.
marabout
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5:09pm Mon 29 Oct 12
What a fabulous evening and a great advert for Dorchester. Friends from Crossways commented on how jealous they were that the centre of Dorchester had a bright and prosperous future.
mr commonsense
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8:00am Tue 30 Oct 12
So Crossways is not part of Dorchester and why should they be jealous, does Crossways have a centre?
A.Hollis
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9:02am Tue 30 Oct 12
mr commonsense
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12:18pm Tue 30 Oct 12
CharlieBarley
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12:53pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Verbose wrote:Park and ride for council staff is a brilliant idea. Especially given the fact that it's their building taking up the car park. Will it happen? Not a chance.
The answer to the parking problem is to provide a cheap park and ride at Poundbury for the use of DCC, WDDC and NHS staff. It is not right that these staff are allowed to park all day in the town taking up parking spaces that would otherwise be used by visitors and shoppers.
It has taken 30 years to get this far with the development of Charles Street. I don't know what undertakings the developers have given to complete the development but this should now proceed as quickly as possible or the area will remain the mess that it is for another 30 years. It is time to move on.
JamesYoung
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2:27pm Tue 30 Oct 12
A.Hollis wrote:I think its very clear, given the canvassing done by the LibDems, that it is far from a minority that aren't in favour. Unfortunately, you are failing to differentiate between Brewery Square, which is undoubtedly a positive for the town, and 30 years of mismanagement by the Council in Charles Street, which will now deliver something other than was planned. The whole point is that the Council has given over an area that would have been suitable for a very large anchor store for its own use. This is clearly not a good thing for the town.
I totally agree with regard to the future of Dorchester. The new cinema, the new restaurants and the new Council buildings are all fabulous news for the county town. The Charles street development has been a long and protracted affair and there are a minority of people who are not fully in favour of it but thankfully the members of the WDCC committees voted sensibly and without persuasion and I believe they decided on the best for Dorchester. The development has been approved and so lets now move on and work towards improving this wonderful town.
A.Hollis
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3:15pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Similarly, there was uproar when Hardyes school was sold for building land - but again, just look at the way the town has matured and developed.
Nonetheless, the decision has been made by our truly elected and we should now fully support the progress they have made and get behind this great project.
dontbuyit
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5:08pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Perhaps you could enlighten us about the wealth and prosperity I have yet to see from Poundbury. Maybe for those Londoners who have bought into as an investment and rent it out. Or the drug dealers that live up there. But the Charles St debacle is not about Poundbury, it's about elected officials not listening to the majority of constituents they are mean't to serve and work for and are paid by. And with all the new people coming into town (to the council offices) what is being done about the congestion and pollution of the high st, the lack of schoolplaces, and upgraded infrastructure that a growing town needs.Guess that doesn't matter as long as we have shiny new council offices.
banknote
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8:05pm Tue 30 Oct 12
I wonder what A.Hollis will say when Simons either go bust or abandon the Charles Street project. He/she seems to forget that this saga has been going on for three decades - and still WDDC cannot agree what to do?
marabout
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7:32am Wed 31 Oct 12
dontbuyit wrote:I would certainly agree with you regards the Poundbury issues.
A Hollis wrote - 'Remember - many people protested about the Poundbury development ands now just look at the wealth and prosperity that has brought for us all'
Perhaps you could enlighten us about the wealth and prosperity I have yet to see from Poundbury. Maybe for those Londoners who have bought into as an investment and rent it out. Or the drug dealers that live up there. But the Charles St debacle is not about Poundbury, it's about elected officials not listening to the majority of constituents they are mean't to serve and work for and are paid by. And with all the new people coming into town (to the council offices) what is being done about the congestion and pollution of the high st, the lack of schoolplaces, and upgraded infrastructure that a growing town needs.Guess that doesn't matter as long as we have shiny new council offices.
The only good thing Poundbury has done for Dorchester is to move the drug issues out of the town centre and place them in the middle of the POWs housing estate.
JamesYoung
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6:57pm Wed 31 Oct 12
marabout wrote:Oi, I live at Poundbury and I have yet to see a drug addict. It's very well run up here - a couple of weeks ago we had a letter complaining about a broken trellis just a week after it broke. We've been warned about putting our rubbish out before 7.30 (bin men come at 7.15) and there have been complaints about people putting greed above community good (by putting solar panels on their roof). They need to focus a little more on keeping the poor people in Victoria park - some occasionally wander up here - but otherwise its a great place t live.
dontbuyit wrote: A Hollis wrote - 'Remember - many people protested about the Poundbury development ands now just look at the wealth and prosperity that has brought for us all' Perhaps you could enlighten us about the wealth and prosperity I have yet to see from Poundbury. Maybe for those Londoners who have bought into as an investment and rent it out. Or the drug dealers that live up there. But the Charles St debacle is not about Poundbury, it's about elected officials not listening to the majority of constituents they are mean't to serve and work for and are paid by. And with all the new people coming into town (to the council offices) what is being done about the congestion and pollution of the high st, the lack of schoolplaces, and upgraded infrastructure that a growing town needs.Guess that doesn't matter as long as we have shiny new council offices.I would certainly agree with you regards the Poundbury issues. The only good thing Poundbury has done for Dorchester is to move the drug issues out of the town centre and place them in the middle of the POWs housing estate.
JamesYoung
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6:58pm Wed 31 Oct 12
dontbuyit
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9:19pm Wed 31 Oct 12
alan_h says...
6:11pm Thu 25 Oct 12