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Topic: Another one bites the dust
Posted by: Tracie Dudley Craig
Date/Time: 17/08/19 16:58:00

Can someone tell me if there's a plan to obliterate every old building in Brentford?

O'Riordan's Tavern is to be demolished and replaced with... wait for it... new-build flats. Because, obvs, there's a shortage of those in the area. And, as we all know, they're in very high demand.

Is it really beyond the imagination of a developer to take a tired (but pretty) building and give it a little TLC? I realise that it was not viable as a boozer, but I know a couple of people who live in old converted pubs - and they're stunning dwellings. Of course, it's much easier to bulldoze and put up an undistinguished bit of pre-fab horror which will have a shelf-life of - say - 25 years before it'll want tearing down again, but really? That's the best they can do?

By and large, the people planning, designing and making decisions about our area don't live in it - it's easy to trash something if you don't have to look at it on a daily basis. And, as I've said before (to deaf ears), it takes a moment to demolish a building, but in that moment years, decades, centuries of history is consigned to the dustbin. What replaces it is very seldom worthy of praise. (Anyone remember a certain D J Trump demolishing the Bonwit Teller building in Manhattan and taking the beautiful bas-relief sculptures with it? It's not a million miles from this.) It still beggars belief that - at the very least - the Barclays and Post Office facades could not have been saved and incorporated into a new development. It's been done before, many times, and successfully too.

Significantly, the old Wilson & Kyle building featured in a Guardian article about derelict buildings. I've long said that if it had been located in Shoreditch or Hackney, it would have been refurbished and given a new lease of life as achingly hip flats or workspaces. But here? Too much to ask. Much better employed as a billboard before it's flattened.

I'm afraid that some committee's decision to throw around a couple of swimming pools-worth of sky blue paint, picking a funky sans-serif font and labelling something a 'project' does not inspire confidence or engender civic pride. It's patronising. Especially when they construct a watchtower too brutal for even the Korean DMZ, without planning permission - or shame.

So now it's goodbye to quirky, pretty little O'Riordans, part of the landscape since 1841 - and hello to... well, more of the same. Lucky us. Lucky, lucky us.


Entire Thread
TopicDate PostedPosted By
Another one bites the dust17/08/19 16:58:00 Tracie Dudley Craig
   Re:Another one bites the dust17/08/19 22:26:00 N V Brooks
      Re:Re:Another one bites the dust17/08/19 22:48:00 Tracie Dudley Craig
         Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust18/08/19 06:41:00 Nichols Beard
            Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust18/08/19 09:42:00 N V Brooks
               Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust18/08/19 11:31:00 Tracie Dudley Craig
                  Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust18/08/19 11:58:00 N V Brooks
                     Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust18/08/19 14:22:00 Tracie Dudley Craig
                        Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust18/08/19 14:33:00 Raymond Havelock
                           Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust18/08/19 14:55:00 Tracie Dudley Craig
                              Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 11:47:00 Vanessa Smith
                        Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust18/08/19 15:06:00 N V Brooks
                           Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust18/08/19 17:15:00 Jennifer Selig
                     Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust18/08/19 17:34:00 Guy Lambert
                        Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust18/08/19 21:18:00 Raymond Havelock
                           Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust18/08/19 23:38:00 Guy Lambert
                              Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 10:25:00 Adam Beamish
                           Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 06:23:00 Nichols Beard
                              Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 08:07:00 N V Brooks
                                 Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 12:03:00 Raymond Havelock
                                    Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 12:12:00 Anne England
                                       Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 12:46:00 Adam Beamish
                                          Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 13:09:00 Raymond Havelock
                                             Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 17:33:00 Guy Lambert
                                             Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 21:52:00 Adam Beamish
                           Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 15:37:00 Mike Paterson
                        Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 16:04:00 Mike Paterson
                           Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 18:48:00 Vanessa Smith
                     Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 19:52:00 Neil Chippendale
   Re:Another one bites the dust19/08/19 16:13:00 Mike Paterson
      Re:Re:Another one bites the dust20/08/19 11:27:00 Tracie Dudley Craig
         Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust20/08/19 12:20:00 Vanessa Smith
         Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust20/08/19 16:18:00 N V Brooks
            Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust20/08/19 16:34:00 Vanessa Smith
               Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust20/08/19 17:31:00 N V Brooks
         Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust21/08/19 00:06:00 Guy Lambert
         Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust21/08/19 10:02:00 Adam Beamish
            Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust21/08/19 12:58:00 N V Brooks
               Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust21/08/19 13:34:00 Vanessa Smith
                  Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust21/08/19 14:34:00 N V Brooks
                     Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust24/08/19 12:41:00 N V Brooks
                        Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust25/08/19 15:42:00 Tracie Dudley Craig
                           Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust25/08/19 16:15:00 Jean Harrison
                              Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust26/08/19 13:11:00 Vanessa Smith
                           Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust26/08/19 23:04:00 Guy Lambert
                              Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust27/08/19 07:44:00 Emma Renton
                              Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust07/09/19 13:09:00 Mike Paterson
                           Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Another one bites the dust27/08/19 10:18:00 Anne England
                              Re: Should we laugh or cry?27/08/19 16:49:00 Vanessa Smith
                                 Re:Re: Should we laugh or cry?28/08/19 11:12:00 Jennifer Selig
                                    Re:Re:Re: Should we laugh or cry?29/08/19 08:21:00 Emma Renton
                                       Re:Re:Re:Re: Should we laugh or cry?29/08/19 09:49:00 Paul Fisher
                                          Re:Re:Re:Re:Re: Should we laugh or cry?29/08/19 14:08:00 Jennifer Selig
                                             Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re: Should we laugh or cry?29/08/19 14:27:00 Vanessa Smith
                                                Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re: Should we laugh or cry?07/09/19 15:52:00 Jennifer Selig
                                                   Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re: Should we laugh or cry?07/09/19 15:55:00 Jennifer Selig
                                                      Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re: Should we laugh or cry?07/09/19 16:49:00 Vanessa Smith

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