Parking U-turn by Olympic organisers (From Dorset Echo)
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Parking U-turn by Olympic organisers
9:54am Wednesday 1st August 2012 in News
A PARK and ride site will be free for the next two days in a bid to get more visitors coming to Weymouth and Portland for the Olympics.
Dorset’s Olympic Board says the parking charges have been dropped because there haven’t been as many visitors to Weymouth as originally planned for.
The Echo reported yesterday that traders said they are losing up to 50 per cent of their business as visitors shun the Olympics in the borough.
The Monkey’s Jump park and ride site at Dorchester is free all day today and tomorrow and will be free on Friday from 2.30pm.
Free shuttle buses will take passengers from Monkey Jump to the Swannery transport hub in the centre of Weymouth.
Two other car parks – Preston Beach and Mount Pleasant in Weymouth – will remain subject to the £10 parking charge throughout the Games, as the main sites
serving ticketed spectators
A fourth site – at Kingston Maurward – will be kept in reserve in case of additional demand, but will not otherwise operate. Should it open, it will also be free at the same times as the Monkey
Jump site.
Angus Campbell, Chairman of Dorset's Olympic Board, said: “We are doing what we can to encourage people to come to the town.
"This reduction of prices for the park-and-ride facilities will, we hope, make it an even better value day out to an Olympic venue and boost numbers accordingly.
"Weymouth has a tremendous amount on offer for visitors and we have had rave reviews from those who have already come to soak up the Olympic atmosphere.
"We hope to see many more in the coming days as we approach the excitement of the medal races in the sailing events at the weekend."
Hugh Sumner, the ODA’s director of transport, said: “We hope our free parking initiative will get thousands of extra visitors in to Weymouth and Portland to enjoy their beaches, shops and
attractions. Weymouth and Portland is very definitely open for business but visitors should plan ahead and check before they travel.”
Comments(89)
maximan
says...
10:07am Wed 1 Aug 12
Laadeeda
says...
10:15am Wed 1 Aug 12
rjimmer
says...
10:22am Wed 1 Aug 12
ianplambert
says...
10:26am Wed 1 Aug 12
All you lot have done is re create an English farce....... only it's not very funny. There are less holiday makers than normal and a handful of 'visitors', the seasonal work most locals relied on is drying up fast. If the money does not come in for local businesses then staff will have to be let go which means longer and more unemployment than usual.
Tear down the barriers immediately, don't think about it, don't flipping vote on it, don't wait until the last minute and look even more stupid than you do,
TEAR DOWN THOSE BARRIERS IMMEDIATELY AND REMOVE ALL TICKET ENTRANCES AND LET THE PEOPLE OF WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND ENJOY WHAT'S LEFT OF THE OLYMPICS ON THEIR OWN BEACH AND THEIR OWN PARK!!!! TEAR THEM DOWN NOW!!!
jcrwey
says...
10:37am Wed 1 Aug 12
Least the council are listening (admitingly finally for once!)
Duckorange
says...
10:47am Wed 1 Aug 12
Laughing gnome
says...
11:06am Wed 1 Aug 12
For goodness sake, just reduce the price of all the parking to £5 per day & maybe, just maybe it will make a difference.
maximan
says...
11:16am Wed 1 Aug 12
Presstostop
says...
11:21am Wed 1 Aug 12
iampuzzled
says...
11:25am Wed 1 Aug 12
So that all the visitors that have not come can walk around.
Laadeeda
says...
11:37am Wed 1 Aug 12
iampuzzled wrote:Ha Ha Ha, PMSL.
Presstostop
So that all the visitors that have not come can walk around.
bandit1
says...
11:51am Wed 1 Aug 12
Just open Weymouth up let people who live here enjoy it and anybody else who hasn`t been scared away.
annotator1
says...
11:52am Wed 1 Aug 12
Too late, the trade in the town is dead. Signs on most motorways and main roads telling drivers not to come to Weymouth due to the congestion. The congestion, what little there is of it, is caused by road closures that are totally unnecessary. Close the Esplanade if you desire for safety reasons but not the rest! No holiday makers, poor Guest House/Hotel bookings. Shops are going to the wall with poor sales, all because of the 'games' and bad management.
marsh1234
says...
11:57am Wed 1 Aug 12
I think too little too late to be honest..lets just hope the shops are still there when the olympics have gone.
portlandboy
says...
12:15pm Wed 1 Aug 12
wykeregislad
says...
12:57pm Wed 1 Aug 12
Instead of all being negative lets try and enjoy a once in a lifetime event , you can watch it for free if you know Weymouth there's loads of spots,
Laadeeda
says...
1:04pm Wed 1 Aug 12
wykeregislad wrote:Right, you all read Wykeregislad, lets all be positive about all this negativity!!!
The beach is free , most of the other attractions are now free the signs have changed to no delay so instead of mocking this lets get behind and enjoy it, it will never ever happen again, I'm loving it, I feel sorry for the local trade and guest houses but after checking out a few yesterday on the front there still charging huge amounts to stay , trying to cash in, so for you guys I have no sympthamy , for the people who haven't tried to cash in I'm feel sorry for you and hope it picks up.
Instead of all being negative lets try and enjoy a once in a lifetime event , you can watch it for free if you know Weymouth there's loads of spots,
Mr Dudbrey
says...
1:06pm Wed 1 Aug 12
thank god for that
dontbuyit
says...
1:10pm Wed 1 Aug 12
wykeregislad
says...
1:11pm Wed 1 Aug 12
Mr Dudbrey wrote:Maybe you should have moved or gone on holiday then, and done us all a favour
Once in a lifetime event?
thank god for that
wykeregislad
says...
1:17pm Wed 1 Aug 12
dontbuyit wrote:Local hotels cashing in we tried three yesterday all had vacancies but charging extreme amounts of money
So where's the 60,000 a day that Angus Campbell and crew told us would be visiting? Will they now admit their projections were way off? Doubt it somehow even though some of us have said for years that sailing is not a spectator sport. Vast amounts of money spent so that businesses can go bust, more unemployment, and less tax revenues for their coffers. Sounds like an own goal to me.
I feel for the guys who've kept there prices the same, having worked on the live site all week the numbers have increased every day, still not the numbers you would expect this time of the year during the summer school holidays,but there increasing, as we approach this coming weekend the medal races start and I believe that alone will drag people in
scubadude
says...
1:20pm Wed 1 Aug 12
satisfecho
says...
1:34pm Wed 1 Aug 12
scubadude wrote:How many on here vote at the local elections?
Public Enquiry and heads rolling is the only acceptable result of the total balls-up planning that preceeded this event. On the plus side the town is lovely and empty for us locals to enjoy, shame it'll all have to close in September now :-(
cj07589
says...
1:43pm Wed 1 Aug 12
chesilboy
says...
1:56pm Wed 1 Aug 12
I must live in a different town to most of you guys. All I can see is an honest attempt to welcome visitors to our town. The organisation looks slick and professional, and many things with the exception of the Nothe are FREE OF CHARGE. Even £10 for all day parking plus a return group bus journey is hardly off the scale is it?
The visitor numbers are obviously well down (hindsight occurs after an event), but at least we were prepared - we can't force people to come. The Olympics were happening whether we liked it or not. No-one has done anything to deliberately drive people away - quite the opposite.
So aside from sweeping generalisms, and feeling the need to blame someone, who has actually done anything wrong and what are the charges?
JamesYoung
says...
2:04pm Wed 1 Aug 12
chesilboy wrote:Rare for me to disagree with you, but on this one you are wrong, Chesil. Experience from other games has shown that the satellite towns end up with little to show for the games but debts. People don't travel for the sailing - most aren't interested. All that happens is that the normal tourist crowd stay away. Instead of hype, it would have been better to portray a realistic view of how many people were likely to come so that tourists were not put off. Reports are increasingly making it clear that the same thing is happening in London. What i find funny is that everybody is keen to point to wet weather or celebration of our monarchy as a reason for lost revenues, but everybody was hyping up the Olympics even in the face of evidence from other venues. In Montreal, for example, they are still paying higher VAT on certain goods (tobacco and alcohol) to pay for their games. And in case you need a refresher, they hosted the 1976 events.
"heads should roll", "total farce", "realise their error", "tear down the barriers", "money grabbing"...
I must live in a different town to most of you guys. All I can see is an honest attempt to welcome visitors to our town. The organisation looks slick and professional, and many things with the exception of the Nothe are FREE OF CHARGE. Even £10 for all day parking plus a return group bus journey is hardly off the scale is it?
The visitor numbers are obviously well down (hindsight occurs after an event), but at least we were prepared - we can't force people to come. The Olympics were happening whether we liked it or not. No-one has done anything to deliberately drive people away - quite the opposite.
So aside from sweeping generalisms, and feeling the need to blame someone, who has actually done anything wrong and what are the charges?
leo210856
says...
2:22pm Wed 1 Aug 12
Some people clearly got carried away in thinking it would bring increased visitors in truth the way in which the events are covered on TV may well lead to increased visitors in the future.
I am not sure the town is going to be saddled with any additional debt but dare I suggest that far from moaning locals should celebrate the money spent in and around the town. I am well aware that some of the improvements are not to everyones taste but try to imagine the state of things if the town had suffered another period of under investment and decay.
ianplambert
says...
2:31pm Wed 1 Aug 12
jcrwey wrote:I didn't say the beach wasn't free, I said rip down the ticket barriers etc which includes the netting. It's outrageous that local people who already pay for the upkeep are barred from walking along the sea front and viewing whatever is going on. It looks like a fence, it stops people seeing so rip it down organisers and save a little face.
ianplambert - the beach is FREE so no need to rip down the barriers on it!
Least the council are listening (admitingly finally for once!)
ianplambert
says...
2:34pm Wed 1 Aug 12
Duckorange wrote:wrong? I think to save face, they should open everything up with immediate effect. There are 70,000 people living here, they are not swarming the place because they can't afford to. Take down all the fences and make everything, everywhere free and open. Of course if you think it should stay as it is..........
Poor, wrong ianplambert
Taxpayinglocal
says...
2:48pm Wed 1 Aug 12
leo210856 wrote:are you blind sir, the council etc have made so much effort on the pretty lasers, and rocks on sticks, palm trees etcetc, that the town centre itself has been left to decay and rot, have you seen the state of it, for a start next time u are down St Marys street, look up!!! yes u will see bulbs from the 80's litereally with mould grown on them some smashed some even missing, hanging there begging to be killed. Thats just the start all the shops are rotting, the wood on some of them is disgusting and vial, Pillars, signs, floor pavings have all been left to rot and decay with not even a sign of a spray wahser over them, some people need to open thier eyes from those purdy laserz and rocks on sticks and look at reality and whats really happening to the locals and its businesses here in what ONCE WAS! a busy and lucrative place.
Sailing has never been a poular spector sport indeed from what has been said its just about the first Olympics where they seem to have attempted to draw significant supporters for this event.
Some people clearly got carried away in thinking it would bring increased visitors in truth the way in which the events are covered on TV may well lead to increased visitors in the future.
I am not sure the town is going to be saddled with any additional debt but dare I suggest that far from moaning locals should celebrate the money spent in and around the town. I am well aware that some of the improvements are not to everyones taste but try to imagine the state of things if the town had suffered another period of under investment and decay.
scubadude
says...
3:00pm Wed 1 Aug 12
chesilboy wrote:Sorry Chesil but EVERYONE asked before the games, infact before Weymouth & Portland was even chosen as a host venue was- no one will go see the sailing.... and guess what, we where right, sure a few chumps are sitting on the Nothe but 4000 isn't 60,000 by a long stretch. The organisers have made some good arrangements in town, I suspect if there where 60K people they'd be struggling but we'd have all said they did try.... fact is EVERYONE said and knew there would be very few visitors, many of us even told the organisers but they blindly refused to listen and plowed ahead using mythical figures for the planning and now have egg on their face. If they'd planned for the numbers who've actually come they'd have had to do very much less than they have- as such its been a waste of time and money. To answer your question- LOCOG have very clearly NOT researched the number likely to attend a sailing even, ignored all advice on the subject and in doing so have gone totally Over the Top... same can be said for all their planning in London too. Total class one, grade A morons the lot of them, Seb should throw himself into the flame and prevent his stupidity costing the nation any more!
"heads should roll", "total farce", "realise their error", "tear down the barriers", "money grabbing"...
I must live in a different town to most of you guys. All I can see is an honest attempt to welcome visitors to our town. The organisation looks slick and professional, and many things with the exception of the Nothe are FREE OF CHARGE. Even £10 for all day parking plus a return group bus journey is hardly off the scale is it?
The visitor numbers are obviously well down (hindsight occurs after an event), but at least we were prepared - we can't force people to come. The Olympics were happening whether we liked it or not. No-one has done anything to deliberately drive people away - quite the opposite.
So aside from sweeping generalisms, and feeling the need to blame someone, who has actually done anything wrong and what are the charges?
chesilboy
says...
3:14pm Wed 1 Aug 12
scubadude wrote:Fair enough, I accept the comments you and JamesYoung make without question.
chesilboy wrote:Sorry Chesil but EVERYONE asked before the games, infact before Weymouth & Portland was even chosen as a host venue was- no one will go see the sailing.... and guess what, we where right, sure a few chumps are sitting on the Nothe but 4000 isn't 60,000 by a long stretch. The organisers have made some good arrangements in town, I suspect if there where 60K people they'd be struggling but we'd have all said they did try.... fact is EVERYONE said and knew there would be very few visitors, many of us even told the organisers but they blindly refused to listen and plowed ahead using mythical figures for the planning and now have egg on their face. If they'd planned for the numbers who've actually come they'd have had to do very much less than they have- as such its been a waste of time and money. To answer your question- LOCOG have very clearly NOT researched the number likely to attend a sailing even, ignored all advice on the subject and in doing so have gone totally Over the Top... same can be said for all their planning in London too. Total class one, grade A morons the lot of them, Seb should throw himself into the flame and prevent his stupidity costing the nation any more!
"heads should roll", "total farce", "realise their error", "tear down the barriers", "money grabbing"...
I must live in a different town to most of you guys. All I can see is an honest attempt to welcome visitors to our town. The organisation looks slick and professional, and many things with the exception of the Nothe are FREE OF CHARGE. Even £10 for all day parking plus a return group bus journey is hardly off the scale is it?
The visitor numbers are obviously well down (hindsight occurs after an event), but at least we were prepared - we can't force people to come. The Olympics were happening whether we liked it or not. No-one has done anything to deliberately drive people away - quite the opposite.
So aside from sweeping generalisms, and feeling the need to blame someone, who has actually done anything wrong and what are the charges?
What I didn't make clear in my post is I'm trying to defend Weymouth with the acknowledgement that the Olympics are here whether we like it or not.
I'm quite proud of what our little town has achieved, I don't see why LOCAL heads should roll, and I don't feel like I'm getting ripped off at every opportunity.
SILVERMAN
says...
3:36pm Wed 1 Aug 12
annotator1 wrote:I will be putting up CLOSING DOWN SALE on my shop window before the end of the week.
Why so long to realise their error?
Too late, the trade in the town is dead. Signs on most motorways and main roads telling drivers not to come to Weymouth due to the congestion. The congestion, what little there is of it, is caused by road closures that are totally unnecessary. Close the Esplanade if you desire for safety reasons but not the rest! No holiday makers, poor Guest House/Hotel bookings. Shops are going to the wall with poor sales, all because of the 'games' and bad management.
SILVERMAN
says...
3:47pm Wed 1 Aug 12
maximan wrote:I love the idea of FREE PARKING at Monkeys Jump. I can just picture it now.Wyke resident drives to Monkeys Jump, gets on a free nice shiny bus which brings him / her, well, sort of close to his / her shops. Having done that easily because the shops are empty, he /she struggles back to The Swannery car park to board a nice new shiny bus for a ride back to Monkeys Jump. Then drives back to Wyke. now that would only happen in a comedy sketch, surely.
The amount of vehicles in the park and ride is around the same amount as car parking spaces in the Swannery car park....ironic that
I have a better idea. Just open the town centre car parks..job done
roger goss
says...
3:59pm Wed 1 Aug 12
donearunner
says...
4:05pm Wed 1 Aug 12
Weymouth & Portland's resources were sold to LOCOG several years ago, the "Games" were always going to happen, regardless of the consequences.
The situation in London, in areas dependant on conventional tourism is exactly the same.
davecook
says...
4:40pm Wed 1 Aug 12
bradley red 1
says...
4:51pm Wed 1 Aug 12
michael-giant
says...
4:59pm Wed 1 Aug 12
today the olympics are about making money.
ticket prices.
franchise food prices.
travel prices.
all based on the dictatorial conditions set for applying for the Games plus local areas, councils and others wishing to make a quick profit.
dan'not'there
says...
5:23pm Wed 1 Aug 12
Add that to the many other factors mentioned above to arrive at the conclusion there was never going to be a mad rush to pay to see a sport that you need a 'computerised graphics plan on a screen' to understand what's happening on the various courses.
I agree- Weymouth- you should cut your losses and open up the town - at least your friends in Dorchester and other local districts would be able to respond immediatley and support 'the best Dorset sea-side resort' (Good enough for a King after all !!!!!)
Verbose
says...
6:09pm Wed 1 Aug 12
portlandresident
says...
6:23pm Wed 1 Aug 12
-
Don't forget Lodmoor park and stride, then there's also the Multi Storey just moments away from the beach. You can even check parking spaces in real time before you set out, look - http://www.dorsetfor
you.com/sailing2012/
car-parks
-
The turnstiles on the beach are just there to count the number of people coming in. That's all. As a local resident, I can see no better time to visit Weymouth. There's so much going on, and the Jurassic Airlines flight simulator is amazing!
-
More details about the games and other free events can also be found here - http://www.dorsetfor
you.com/sailing2012
-
I'm proud of where I live, and hope we can still get people to visit our beautiful resort. If only for the local economy.
bradley red 1
says...
6:26pm Wed 1 Aug 12
Verbose wrote:CORRECT! AS YOU SAY ALL ABOUT GREED,GREED,GREED!!! DESERVE THE NO SHOW IN MY OPINION.
I thought LOCOG had set the prices for Park & Ride. In which case their greed has come back and bitten them in the backside.
iampuzzled
says...
6:45pm Wed 1 Aug 12
How do you find your way through the security checks on the Beach Road with those rose-tinted specs on (:o))
I do hope that you got paid your fee for this advert.
Oldgrumblebelly
says...
6:54pm Wed 1 Aug 12
stanichardie
says...
6:59pm Wed 1 Aug 12
Unfortuntaley the Bayside seems to be overpriced. We have bought tickets for an event and then tickets are given away free outside.
As a local I will just try to enjoy these events. It is hard to please everyone but we do have more than our share of professional moaners around!
pd7
says...
7:45pm Wed 1 Aug 12
The PR for the event has been useless .
I really feel for the traders ( real ones ) and smiling at all the ones that are in it for a quick money.
The crowds and visitors will not happen it is to late for them to plan or visit .
But a least we got one real mess of a roundabout at canford bottom and a relief road to nowhere .
If those who planned it listened it could have been so much better .
Be honest the old carnival pulled more people .
And what will be the outcome
next project for me to wreck please
ok
John New
says...
7:50pm Wed 1 Aug 12
As someone who was involved with the local authority planning for this in the very early stages before I retired it is totally unfair to be blaming any of the local authorities and other agencies. There is one FACT that influenced everything else from day one and that is that at those early stages meetings local scepticism about prospective visitor numbers was put down by non-local imported experts who stated that sailing had been a very popular spectator sport at other venues and yes we would get very large crowds..
Hindsight shows the locally based staff members at those multi-agency meetings were right the so called advisors were wrong - what was planned for was what was forecast and it those numbers had turned up the organisation that has resulted is about right.
Local systems planning for massive crowds have been well executed; you can't blame planners for supplying a solution to the missing crowds. .
The crucial question to be asked at the post-event wash-up meetings is why the external advisors have got these spectator forecasts so wrong here and also at some of the London sites too. Those numpties do need to be named and shamed for they have wasted millions of pounds. Extremely glad we got the new relief road but it was a multi-million pound answer to crowds who didn't appear.
Bazzer55
says...
8:05pm Wed 1 Aug 12
Well a question to those (you know who you are)
Where is your new wealth and all your visitors that are making a beeline to your run down town ?
pd7
says...
8:06pm Wed 1 Aug 12
It is the PR and promotion of Dorset that failed .
Very few people are going to come to see a few boats bobbing about .
Dorset should have put a total PR package in place . The people they wanted to come have not even heard of Dorset and could not justify the cost to get here .
Ever seen the numbers Cowes week IOW quick search shows 100K
And its next week
Mrs Grumps
says...
9:08pm Wed 1 Aug 12
We got held up for ages, at least three times between Ringwood and Wimborne along that road, including the extremely inefficient and clearly dangerous new Canford Bottom junction - and I wonder who designed that disaster? This is madness at a time when we want people to be able to move around the county freely.
Combined with all the other mistakes mentioned on this forum Weymouth didn't stand a chance to bring in the many thousands it was expecting.
kmilla
says...
9:09pm Wed 1 Aug 12
Desk24
says...
9:33pm Wed 1 Aug 12
John New
says...
9:54pm Wed 1 Aug 12
thetiger
says...
10:00pm Wed 1 Aug 12
You state that you were "involved with the local authority planning for this in the very early stages", and in the same breath state "it is totally unfair to be blaming any of the local authorities and other agencies".
You further state that "prospective visitor numbers was put down by non-local imported experts".
If these non local 'experts' were wrong (and it seems you agree on this point), why on earth did the council go along with the plan?
These 'experts' were called in as advisors (the clue is in the word 'advisors'), the buck stops with the council, not the 'advisors'.
John New
says...
10:50pm Wed 1 Aug 12
The main truth though is that it is unfair to blame locally based organisations for planning ahead for crowds they were assured would come by the nationally acknowledged experts and for not doing local publicity campaigns they were effectively banned from doing by the same national bodies. Yes there is blame to allocate but very little of it (apart from the details of the traffic light design) falls to either DCC WPBC or Dorset police .
PasirP
says...
12:13am Thu 2 Aug 12
portlandresident wrote:I am also proud of Weymouth and love what it has to offer, even some of the road improvements! Unfortunately my initial delight at having the Olympics on my doorstep has gradually been eroded by inept research and disrespect for the locals who keep the town going through the winter months. Today I had to 'nip' into town, headed off early to avoid the traffic restrictions along the seafront, parked in the multi storey car park as usual, spent my money in the town helping to keep the local economy afloat and headed back to my car 1 hour 11 minutes later to find it had cost me £4 to park, double what it cost me a week ago. I want Weymouth to grow as an international venue for visitors but the local government have gone about it in such a misguided way. I strongly feel someone needs to stand tall and apologise for getting it wrong.....that and reduce the obscene parking fee. Come on Weymouth pull it out the bag and look after the people who will be here long after the Olympics has gone.
Access to the beach, also known as the 'Live Site', is 100% Free! A great place to soak up the atmosphere during medal race time. There's also a good selection of other places to park besides.
-
Don't forget Lodmoor park and stride, then there's also the Multi Storey just moments away from the beach. You can even check parking spaces in real time before you set out, look - http://www.dorsetfor
you.com/sailing2012/
car-parks
-
The turnstiles on the beach are just there to count the number of people coming in. That's all. As a local resident, I can see no better time to visit Weymouth. There's so much going on, and the Jurassic Airlines flight simulator is amazing!
-
More details about the games and other free events can also be found here - http://www.dorsetfor
you.com/sailing2012
-
I'm proud of where I live, and hope we can still get people to visit our beautiful resort. If only for the local economy.
EtaoinShrdlu
says...
4:37am Thu 2 Aug 12
nigeld
says...
7:49am Thu 2 Aug 12
niceonecyril
says...
8:32am Thu 2 Aug 12
wessex-andy
says...
8:43am Thu 2 Aug 12
People haven't come to the town because of predicted travel chaos and predicted high prices being charged for accommodation and services. Many regular visitors have stayed away mainly because they didn't want to be pushed about by the predicted influx of Olympic enthusiasts and some local people have removed themselves from the town for the duration.
Over the last couple of years I have been very sceptical about the predicted number of people who would be coming to our town to see something that is not a spectator friendly sport. Because visitors using the park and ride system planned for the event had to book in advance, the organisers should have known with absolute certainty that it wasn't going to happen at least a couple of weeks ago.
Rather than make unhelpful comments at this stage of the game, why not make the effort to get into town and enjoy the facilities on offer. It's quieter than usual, so this is a good time to take advantage of what is on offer for FREE. Usually, I do most of my shopping in Dorchester and avoid Weymouth as much as possible at this time of year, but so far this week I have cycled (another unusual event for me) into town twice, parked my bike in a manned secure parking area by the Bandstand for FREE and spent a few hours enjoying everything that is going on. I will never be a sports enthusiast, but there are lots of other things going on.
cj07589
says...
8:50am Thu 2 Aug 12
nigeld wrote:So 60 people's opinion versus your version. Thanks but I stick to the consenus and the stats dont lie, looking forward to this sporting fiascos conclusion. Id rather had the money spent on investing in our children's future like building new schools, teachers etc.in oppose to saddling them in debt for decades.
So now this "Green" olympics the Joint 2012 comittee referred to on the first day becomes even greener, As well as the empty Olympic Purple double deckers going from Bowleaze (and other places) to Portland we will have people driving their cars from weymouth to Monkeys jump to avoid paying the 10 pounds weymouth park and ride charge, well thought through. Lets hope when the people of Weymouth and Portland receive their increased council tax bills next year to pay for all this and the hundreds of council workers standing around all day with nothing to do these idiots all get kicked out. Thier days are well and truly numberred.
jmc1
says...
8:56am Thu 2 Aug 12
portlandboy
says...
9:24am Thu 2 Aug 12
Still I don't suppose the council can be expected to look at a long range weather forecast - that would be classed as forward planning.
bollywood
says...
9:25am Thu 2 Aug 12
It is the council who has agreed to all the road closures, the farce that is the blue screening and the overpriced Bayside festival. All of this could have been done at Lodmoor with no detriment to the town. John New is now trying to put the blame on 'advisors' but it is the council who have made the decisions and not listened. Prior to the Olympics Weymouth had a couple of weeks of brilliant sunshine but the holidaymakers were forced to sit at the stony end of the beach, I am afraid to say the council are solely to blame for the mess that Weymouth is in. Get the roads open and free up the car parks NOW.
acynic
says...
10:09am Thu 2 Aug 12
It seems that our Olympic efforts have been good for everyone in some way or another. Lots of fantastic, worldwide coverage for our beautiful town and surrounding area (who from the many countries in the world hasn't heard of Weymouth and Portland now!?) and a very exciting time for all the cynics, moaners and groaners to air their views as they've never done before!
Get it all out, you'll feel much better.
RobinofLocksley
says...
10:35am Thu 2 Aug 12
CharlieBarley
says...
10:57am Thu 2 Aug 12
Weymouth may be over-planned but surely it's better to have too much provision than not enough.
satisfecho
says...
11:31am Thu 2 Aug 12
CharlieBarley wrote:No win situation.
We went to Cardiff yesterday for the football - after a 10 mile detour through the industrial estates to the park and ride, we got there to find it was full and there was no other provision for park and ride facilities. Once inside the stadium, we queued for 30 mins for food to find they had sold out of everything except pies. This is a stadium and city that regularly holds events for tens of thousands of people. I think it's unlikely that we'd go back to an event in cardiff.
Weymouth may be over-planned but surely it's better to have too much provision than not enough.
Reading through all these posts, groans and moans you have to wonder what would of happened if little provision for crowds had been made for the town then to become a stand still.
There would be a good side to the town being busy, but how many would then go away bemoaning the town saying it could not organise one of those drinking trips to the Brewey
JamesYoung
says...
11:57am Thu 2 Aug 12
John New wrote:I think there are some fair points in here, but the information on sailing events (and payback from the Olympics in general) is readily available. The local council, as our elected representatives, did not do the research. It is no surprise that the mid level cogs were asked to deliver the unnecessary.
Point worth answering. I retired 5 years ago and at that time was a middle level cog in the pre-event planning machine but many outline policy parameters were already set by that point At my level and below if the senior ranking acknowledged experts on the event tell you to plan for a very large influx of visitors you assume they know what they are talking about and begin to plan systems to resolve the problem you have been given. What has to be asked is did previous Olympic regattas actually draw the crowds we were told to plan for? If no then who was responsible in the UK Olympic movement for saying there would be such crowds (Cowes week?) and if yes such crowds do exist elsewhere then wtf was the publicity side of the event so bungled by the ODA we haven't had them.
The main truth though is that it is unfair to blame locally based organisations for planning ahead for crowds they were assured would come by the nationally acknowledged experts and for not doing local publicity campaigns they were effectively banned from doing by the same national bodies. Yes there is blame to allocate but very little of it (apart from the details of the traffic light design) falls to either DCC WPBC or Dorset police .
As for the traffic lights, the arrogance of the council in claiming this is an improvement and that accidents are the result of poor driving is just breath taking.
And am i the only one that thinks that some of the newly registered users on this site who are full of praise might themselves be found in North Quay? (Not referring to you here John, your identity is clear, your comments are measured and add value to the discussion).
The police and events staff have done a brilliant job.
JamesYoung
says...
12:00pm Thu 2 Aug 12
satisfecho wrote:I'm not sure people are complaining about the provision for crowds.
CharlieBarley wrote:No win situation.
We went to Cardiff yesterday for the football - after a 10 mile detour through the industrial estates to the park and ride, we got there to find it was full and there was no other provision for park and ride facilities. Once inside the stadium, we queued for 30 mins for food to find they had sold out of everything except pies. This is a stadium and city that regularly holds events for tens of thousands of people. I think it's unlikely that we'd go back to an event in cardiff.
Weymouth may be over-planned but surely it's better to have too much provision than not enough.
Reading through all these posts, groans and moans you have to wonder what would of happened if little provision for crowds had been made for the town then to become a stand still.
There would be a good side to the town being busy, but how many would then go away bemoaning the town saying it could not organise one of those drinking trips to the Brewey
What we are complaining about is that the council and LOCOG misled us over visitor numbers, forced 4 years of traffic disruption and lost trade onto us, lied to us about what facilities we, as local residents, would get to use for free, blocked off large areas of public land, overcharged for tickets, allowed Locog to enforce unacceptable rules on what could be worn and eaten at venues, and generally rode rough shod over our rights. And for what? For phantom crowds that never turned up at any sailing event in the past.
JamesYoung
says...
12:02pm Thu 2 Aug 12
acynic wrote:I'll ask again.
I just had to pop in a comment to this well-attended forum (although I'm probably too far down the list for it to be read!).
It seems that our Olympic efforts have been good for everyone in some way or another. Lots of fantastic, worldwide coverage for our beautiful town and surrounding area (who from the many countries in the world hasn't heard of Weymouth and Portland now!?) and a very exciting time for all the cynics, moaners and groaners to air their views as they've never done before!
Get it all out, you'll feel much better.
Where were the sailing events held in Beijing?
Where were the sailing events held in Sydney?
Where were the sailing events held in Athens?
Next week, none of those who watched will have a clue where the sailing for LONDON 2012 was held. We won't see any extra visitors. What we will see is a couple of years of low visitor numbers because our traditional tourists have found somewhere new.
Desk24
says...
3:52pm Thu 2 Aug 12
wessex-andy
says...
4:54pm Thu 2 Aug 12
portlandboy
says...
5:22pm Thu 2 Aug 12
wessex-andy wrote:I thought exactly that too. Sandbanks have hosted international volleyball events, so who not offer the Olympic volleyball to them? Or for that matter, why not hold it on the temporary volleyball court that was constructed ON WEYMOUTH BEACH for the Olympic period? What's that all about???
My biggest moan about the games is that in spite of our country having many miles of beautiful sandy beaches, the beach volleyball is being held on a military parade ground.
weymouthfox
says...
5:42pm Thu 2 Aug 12
Bazzer55
says...
7:30pm Thu 2 Aug 12
niceonecyril wrote:Sorry, I'd better go to Specsavers !
Wow 60 comments, didn't realise the whingers society had the brains to create multiple accounts to make them look good, but no matter because the fantastic Olympics have proven you all wrong, £10 to park, which entitles you to some fantastic events, a bargain, the town looks fantastic, driving around, fantastic, no cars on the esplanade (just to go around the statue and come back again), fantastic. Well done Weymouth and Portland for making it a massive success and making our town look quality all over the World
Where are these "fantastic events" ?
Where do I find a "bargain" ?
Where does the town look "fantastic" ?
And just how has "the fantastic Olympics have proven you all wrong" ?
Please inform us ............if you can
boobooweymouth
says...
9:02pm Thu 2 Aug 12
Bargain = free sailing, kayaking, windsurfing lessons as well as loads of other sports in the Sports Arena
Bargain = £1 for live music & lots of other fun stuff in Bayside Festival
Bargain = free big screens on beach showing Olympic events. Great fun for GB beach volleyball today
Fantastic events - buskers around the town, boat project outside Mallams, ICCI dome kids discos etc
Town looking fantastic = palm trees, lasers, cafes with big decking areas looking out to see, new bus shelters etc
Laughing gnome
says...
11:15am Fri 3 Aug 12
marypo
says...
11:33am Fri 3 Aug 12
These workers were told originally that the Olympic team would work alongside the traders of Weymouth for the good of all. Don't brand these people who are only trying to make a living as whingers who are trying to cash in on the Olympics.
rjimmer
says...
4:52pm Fri 3 Aug 12
Bazzer55
says...
8:02pm Fri 3 Aug 12
boobooweymouth wrote:@ boobooweymouth
@ Bazzer
Bargain = free sailing, kayaking, windsurfing lessons as well as loads of other sports in the Sports Arena
Bargain = £1 for live music & lots of other fun stuff in Bayside Festival
Bargain = free big screens on beach showing Olympic events. Great fun for GB beach volleyball today
Fantastic events - buskers around the town, boat project outside Mallams, ICCI dome kids discos etc
Town looking fantastic = palm trees, lasers, cafes with big decking areas looking out to see, new bus shelters etc
All I can say is that your definition of "Bargain" is worlds apart from mine.The Live Music is from second rate bands that play in local pubs for free anyway.
As for "Town Looking Fantastic " What part of the town was that ?
....Buskers !....New Bus Shelters ! The Lasers !
Oh Dear
VaguelyPurple
says...
9:38pm Fri 3 Aug 12
gameon
says...
11:10pm Fri 3 Aug 12
VaguelyPurple
says...
9:50am Sat 4 Aug 12
portlandboy
says...
11:14am Sat 4 Aug 12
RobinofLocksley
says...
1:07pm Mon 6 Aug 12
VaguelyPurple wrote:Agreed. The Esplanade has much more of a 'holiday feel' to it without the traffic. I do sympathise with the taxi drivers, and the best system would be to make it a 'taxis and bicycles only zone' but that would need enforcement measures in place that WPBC probably don't want to pay for. I'd like to think that some motorists might realise after this that it's easier to go round the town than queue to drive through it.
I don't know why absolutely everything has to be a cause for Cynicism. Closing the Esplanade and King St and Commercial Rd (along the bit anyone would want to go) is the best idea anyone's had for along time. Isn't it nice without all the traffic?
I've also been pleased to see the bike parks full, or nearly full, each day.
Oh, and most of the P&R buses I saw yesterday in the early evening heading out of town had loads of people on board - at last!
Ashers 5
says...
8:21pm Tue 7 Aug 12
iampuzzled wrote:Are you on Twitter ? If not you should be !!
Presstostop
So that all the visitors that have not come can walk around.
tedbungy says...
10:05am Wed 1 Aug 12