It seems that the TCP has been recognised as a Community Interest Company. Okay I suppose I can live with that.
As a company it has a board of directors - makes sense I guess.
Directors are:
Liz Chandler - fine, she's shown committment,
Tom Rossiter, a local solicitor - no bad thing to have a legal chap on the board,
Malcolm Bull, director of Rivar - do we really want a major local developer controlling developments in the town?
Patrick Griffin, architect, partner in Sutton Griffin, architects behind Parkway, Victorian Park Pavillion, Wharf Redeveleopment plans etc. Should anyone with this level of interest in town centre developments be allowed to be runing a largely publically funded group that promotes town centre developments?
What with all the bad publicity that Griffin has been attracting both to himself and others, you'd have thought that anyone with any sense of decency would have kept a low profile.
What with all the bad publicity that Griffin has been attracting both to himself and others, you'd have thought that anyone with any sense of decency would have kept a low profile.
Threep.
What absolute codswallop! What bad publicity? He's a local man designing buildings for the local community. Your comments really are ridiculously over the top. You need to get a grip on reality - can I suggest you have a nice cup of tea and calm down.
And which cave exactly have you been living in during the last year?
To quote you, "What bad publicity"? are you seriously saying that the Saintly (in your opinion) Mr Griffin has not brought bad publicity to his firm, to his projected ventures and the bodies upon which he sits ?
I don't know if he's a 'local' man or not, neither do I care, but he designs buildings for profit not necessarily for 'the local community' You need to open your eyes, and watch what's happening as Newbury is being dragged to hell in a handcart by unelected publicly funded groups and their apologists.
I've lived in a Newbury Cave for over 15 years. And thoroughly enjoyed it, thankyou. Mr Griffin can defend himself I'm sure but he's no saint and nor are you nor I. He's a practising architect that's dragged this town kicking and screaming in the present.
Do some research on the 'unelected publicy funded groups' and have another cup of tea. They contain elected representatives of more groups that you realise. I suspect that sometimes they are happy to quietly hide in the background.
What absolute codswallop! What bad publicity? He's a local man designing buildings for the local community. Your comments really are ridiculously over the top. You need to get a grip on reality - can I suggest you have a nice cup of tea and calm down.
Well judging by the "Pavilion in the Park" the only good publicity is he gives work to the blind!
Having seen some of his work I would prefer we employed a good architect next time rather than a local!!
Do some research on the 'unelected publicy funded groups' and have another cup of tea. They contain elected representatives of more groups that you realise. I suspect that sometimes they are happy to quietly hide in the background.
None of which proves that Griffins buildings are not tired, crass, unimaginative, and more suited to the 1970's than the 21st Century.
Wouldn't it be nice if Griffin refused to do any more work unless there were either tenders from other firms, or competitions held for the best building amongst various companies. As a semi local lad you may have had the edition of the Newbury Squeakly delivered to your cave (middle of last year) in which another firm of architects complained that it would be nice, for once, to have the chance to submit other proposals and designs. The gist of their letter was that there seemed to be some sort of 'cartel' operating in Newbury.
Obviously this cannot be the case.
You may be happy with publicly funded bodies giving out contracts to people sat on those bodies with no tendering or competition, but wherever possible, I like my local democracy a little more transparent than that.
The joy of these forums is their anonymity - but I'm happy to proclaim that I live in Newbury Town and have done so for quite a few years - if Mr Threep feels that makes me a semi-local, then so be it. But I'm entitled to an opinion, as well as as the next man. Mr Threep, please let me know when you feel, in your eyes, I am allowed to become a true local!
Architecture and design is subjective; one person's folly is another's joy. Crass and unimaginative to one person, bold and inspirational to another.
If we're talking about the Victoria Park Pavilion, then the client (Greenham Common Trust), hired Patrick Griffin Architects to visualise the building, incorporating all the stakeholders requirements, and produce drawings and plans. If, and it's a big if, the plans proceed, then the design and construction goes to tender. You may not know that, but that's a fact.
That's the easy stuff out of the way. My concern is the bile coming from forum participants that assume 'chicanery' or worse, without facts or figures to back it up.
Griffin got around £50,000.00 to design that crap, that's one fact. Do you think in a 100 years time the Newbury Society will be protesting at the demolition of the what is now the new St Barts School, the new library, park pavilion, etc...?
That's my point. Crap to you : innovative cutting edge design to another. Your inability to accept other viewpoints is what makes these forums such fun!
but I'm happy to proclaim that I live in Newbury Town and have done so for quite a few years - if Mr Threep feels that makes me a semi-local, then so be it.
No, it merely means that you have a different point of reference from the indigenous population. You may not remember the cattle market, Davis's china and glasswear, the Red Rooster, Louis of Mayfair, Morris Garages, Wakefield Fortune, or even The House of Toomer. But I think you'll agree that sometimes you need the whole picture before before deciding what Newbury is today, as compared to what it could or should have been.
Crap to you : innovative cutting edge design to another.
Are you saying that to you, the Ark in the Park is "innovative and cutting edge"? and, even if you're not, just to help us, could you point to any one of it's constituent parts that could be deemed to be 'cutting edge design' by anyone?
Your inability to accept other viewpoints is what makes these forums such fun!
We are always interested in other viewpoints. We tend to respect those who can argue a cogent case for them. Not just of the 'one mans meat is another man's poison' trite homilies.
...My concern is the bile coming from forum participants that assume 'chicanery' or worse, without facts or figures to back it up.
My concern is the apparent conflict of interest. Fine if Mr Griffin was a retired architect; I could see the merits of his position on the board of directors. For him to be there as a boss of a local firm, which is what the thread's OP is all about, is preposterous and shouldn't be allowed. It is this, added to the fact he seems to get 'all the big jobs' in Newbury, is what stoke people's suspicion on these matters.
That's my point. Crap to you : innovative cutting edge design to another. Your inability to accept other viewpoints is what makes these forums such fun!
You missed out the second part of the post where I doubted that people would admire the architectural merits of the new designs in the way they have with buildings like old Luker.
I've lived in a Newbury Cave for over 15 years. And thoroughly enjoyed it, thankyou. Mr Griffin can defend himself I'm sure but he's no saint and nor are you nor I. He's a practising architect that's dragged this town kicking and screaming in the present.
Do some research on the 'unelected publicy funded groups' and have another cup of tea. They contain elected representatives of more groups that you realise. I suspect that sometimes they are happy to quietly hide in the background.
As a new member you're yet to find out that the views expressed here by some of the regular posters often do not tally with the opinions of the majority of Newbury residents.
To some, the fact that five to ten people (some of whom are not Newbury residents) posting under pseudonymous registered their dislike for something is unchallengeable proof that this is the general opinion of everyone in Newbury.
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