Streetlife

I do not know why it is taking so long. I have also noticed very little going on when I walk past. They could have built a house in the time they are taking on the job.

I dread to think how much it is all costing. I think the money could have been better spent giving new business reduced rent incentives for a couple of years as a start up deal. It is a bit of a chicken and the egg situation. Improve the shops to attract the people or improve the area to attract the shops. Personally I would visit a town centre with a good selection of shops even if the paving was a little scruffy but no amount of fab paving and raised stage areas would interest me if the shops were few and far between.

I'm sorry but I still dont know what this structure is for. Can anyone tell me why all this money has been spent, presumably as part of Moving Thetford Forward?

I am sure that it will only be used for skateboarders and BMX bikers to practice on,
Moving Thetford Forward,  in my opinion, is just another Quango chucking good money after bad 

It is such a shame that £600,000 is being thrown at a project that to this moment in time I have yet to meet anyone who wants it. 
At the moment all it is creating is noise and dirty streets.  
Progress as I have been watching on a daily basis has been slow and I believe parts of Kings street has been dug up, cemented over then re dug, re piped, re cemented and then changed again. 
It will be interesting to see how long the area when finished remains intact, and how often it gets vandalised and has to be repaired at the cost to us the tax payer and council tax payer.
Thetford needs jobs for its many unemployed.  
Thetford needs to address other issues such as drinking in and around its town centre and beauty spots which intimadate Thetford residents and visitors alike.
Thetford needs investment in its shops and businesses, with incentives for empty premises to  re open, and flourish,
A new bus station on its existing site otherwise the whole of Riverside Walk shopping precinct will become a ghost town  of concrete.
The young of Thetford need their recreational time being put to good use and venues sorting.
More recognition, money and support to our museums, Ancient House, Burrell, and Dads Army Museums all do a brilliant job of putting us on the map. 
Give us these and make us a good place to come to in Norfolk, not an embarressment.!

Well said Sue W.

Well,  as I understood it's a stage for Thetford community.  I'm starting dance class so it will be usefull for my business.  I just hope I am not going to be dissapointed with it''s look and  hope council is not going to ask for enourmous price in order to perform on it.  Like they are offering for hire Guildhall £10 an hour, BUT I MUST pay for 2 hours. My business is only starting, so I will not have any profit at all. Shame only that beautiful tree has to be sacraficed.

Maybe this is the skate park we have been waiting for the past 10 to 15 years for? I know there was a 3 day delay due to the skeletons found but they were suppose to be working for 15 weeks I'm sure they started then the kids were on summer hols as it was started around the same time Fulmerston road was closed now they are telling us it could be late November early December before its finished.

hope its done before the switch on or its going to be a bit of a squeeze getting everyone through there.

a jobbing builder could have knocked that up for alot cheaper than those so called builders are charging

yes david it was started when the children were on holiday , so hope its finished soon i understand the skeletons were found where the clock is going, that doesn't stop them getting on with the other bit though  does  it

Well said Sue. I couldn't have put it better myself. It's like everything else that happens in Thetford. You can have your opinions, you can even vote on it but it will never make any difference. The powers that be have already decided our fate and at whatever cost to us they will go ahead regardless.

Just another thought...... since the moving of the crossing on the Bury road we have been left with a huge puddle on the pathway that we have to negotiate. At the moment it is full of soggy wet leaves, as is the surrounding area but I wonder how many injuries there will be when it freezes over in the forthcoming cold spell. I have to use this crossing most days of the week, but I wonder how elderly people are going to negotiate it especially as there are retired peoples' residences across the road from it.. Most of Thetford is being dug up at the moment can someone not drop by and dig a hole in the puddle to empty it or I suspect there are going to be numerous compensation claims in the offing?

Bill T,
This is yet another example of "the taxpayer be damned" with excessive expenditure as the status quo. reference recent TV broadcasts regarding weather or not Parliament has got its house in order with MP's compensation claims, and also the extortionate prices the NHS pays for drugs

Linda,
  I too echo Sue's sentiments. However, insofar as an opinion making a difference on the "powers that be", I see the problem of a distant shout in the wilderness as being heard and acted upon, entirely dependent on its type of  focus into the ear of your MP.

I suggest www.fixmystreet.com  as a tool to make those "powers that be" aware.   I used this site and successfully had a grit bin located at the bottom of a steep slope in a local road.  I also contacted Elizabeth Truss,  to exert her influence in this regard---and it worked!!!

Thanks for that Mike, I can see this may come in very handy. Glad to know you have been so successful by the way.

It's only about taking the initiative which is within everyone's grasp.  I often feel daunted by the complexities  of dealing with officialdom as many others do, but there are procedures in place, and sources for help to those who are willing to seek them out.  We all engage in a good old moan, but if there is a burning issue, 
It's surprising what can be achieved with a bit of effort.

Don't like to be too negative - Thetford  needs more people to be positive, I believe - but last August I sent a message to www.fixmystreet.com about the state of the street lights on Bridges Walk.  They are festooned with cobwebs and dust like something out of a horror movie.  Sadly nothing has happened.  Someone told me that they have anti-vandal paint on them and so the dirt etc sticks to that.  Any other ideas to get something done would be welcomed!

Well, I informed Fixmystreet, I'll let you know the outcome.

Another option is to  explore the  Thetford Town Council website click the links tab down the left side.  There are a host of  community groups who may share your concern and point you in the right direction, or contact your local councillor.

Thanks for that, Mike.  I did try contacting my local county councillor (I am married to him!) and he put me on to fixmystreet.com so that did not work did it?!

we've gone full circle..  Did you try any of the Community Groups perhaps they can offer a fresh insight.

The Christmas lights are due to be switched on tonight and surprise surprise the works in King street actually look near to completion! could they be ready for tonight - we will all have to wait and see (I am not impressed with what I have seen so far)!

Thanks to Mike for advising me of fixmystreet.com.  Since posting my complaint regarding the huge puddle that appeared after the crossing on Bury Road was moved I went in to town today and found workmen on the corner of Newtown fixing the puddle.  I don't know whether my bringing it to their attention made a difference although I would like to think it did and I am suitably impressed with the speed with which the problem has be rectified saving lots of  broken body parts now that the weather is turning colder. I would recommend anyone else with similar problems to use this site.

Sadly the works are not completed and spoiled the switching on of the lights. What a shame to have all the various stalls and the lights and the building site in the middle like a blot on the horizon.
I hope the contractors are on a penalty clause - though I doubt it the job would definitely have been finished in time.

no sadly the King St   ' Improvements'  were not finished for the lights switch on, and was there a shortage of large Christmas trees this year ? . I suppose we have spent all the money on the ' Improvements' I do hope all the money spent on it will be an improvement, and not just a drinking ,drug addicts,  and skateboard platform  as marble must be an expensive material to de-graffiti. perhaps some money could be spent on getting more shops to be opened in King St.. I'm all for improving the town as,you can certainly say Thetford is not a small bustling town anymore It has so many things going for it but these seem not to be to the forefront.