From BAANG

[DavidofMersea]

Your story of Tesco in Burnham reminded me of Tesco coming to Mersea. There was a protest group saying 'the people of Mersea don't want a Tesco'. It can now been seen how silly that was as Tesco is very busy and will soon need to extend. BTW, two of those people who were saying "We don't want Tesco" were Andy and Varrie Blowers of BANNG, although apart from general support, I don't think they took any part in the protest campaign.

 

[Sixpence]

Your story of Tesco in Burnham reminded me of Tesco coming to Mersea. There was a protest group saying 'the people of Mersea don't want a Tesco'. It can now been seen how silly that was as Tesco is very busy and will soon need to extend. BTW, two of those people who were saying "We don't want Tesco" were Andy and Varrie Blowers of BANNG, although apart from general support, I don't think they took any part in the protest campaign.

They sound like the typical career protesters who object to anything they can, plenty of them about, maybe we should have kept nuclear weapons just to keep them happy, and busy at Greenham Common

 

[DavidofMersea]

They sound like the typical career protesters who object to anything they can, plenty of them about, maybe we should have kept nuclear weapons just to keep them happy, and busy at Greenham Common

He is a retired University lecturer and is a bit of a Luddite with a power thing, and she is Scottish, and they are always moaning and protesting, full of conspiracy theories

 

[Seashoreman]

Seashoreman - there is a lot of local support for a new nuclear power station. We need jobs in this part of the world and the vast majority of people here know someone who worked at the old station, and have been used to it for virtually all their life. BANNG is a local pressure group led by a vociferous minority who are opposed to nuclear power in any shape or form. However, they are fighting against BATTLE (they are the people campaigning against wind farms).
Whatever you propose around here someone is against it. When we got a tesco convenience store in the middle of town on the site of a derelict petrol station, there was a huge outcry from the 'keep burnham bijou' movement that got huge coverage claiming 'the people of burnham don't want a tesco'. When you go in its always heaving so they can't be the people of Burnham..........
There must be something in the air that makes people prone to establishing single interest groups that ignore any other viewpoint. and the local paper is so short of news that anyone with a grudge can get coverage. recent ones include a tattooed woman who objects to the local Co-op checking her ID when she buys booze and a while back a woman who wanted to let off several hundred helium balloons as a memorial to a toddler and who was incensed that Maldon District Council thought it was environmentally unfriendly.
apart from that, its a nice place to live..............[/QUOTE
Ah the joys of Little Britain. Here we also have a history of Nuclear Power going back to the 60's (I think) and consequently many many local families have been supported by the income. Also has brought 'new blood' into the area. Most locals are fairly knowledgeable about the goings on and are content to live with them. However we have had 'Stop Sizewell B' and now 'Stop Sizewell C'. Every now and then they dress up a bit silly and shout about things.
I think it is a struggle to find finance for Nuclear, maybe Sizewell C will go ahead but is Bradwell a serious proposition?

On the subject of Tesco, we also have a Tesco being built on the site of an old garage. The protestors were virtually all second-home owners and out-of-towners lead by a person who runs a business renting out cottages she has been snapping up for approx. £1000 a week. This person has been here for a very short time, unlike some locals who have been here for a few hundred years. 'Don't spoil our dear little town' is the patronising theme of her protest, not 'give the locals a break and a choice from the overpriced and complacent Co-op' (which is next door to the site btw). Tesco built a medium size store opposite Waitrose in Saxmundham which was useful, and amusing. There is a definite social divide in the 'class' of shopper, I, fortunately, am not conventional in my shopping habits but like competition and convenience.

 

[Sixpence]

Ah the joys of Little Britain. Here we also have a history of Nuclear Power going back to the 60's (I think) and consequently many many local families have been supported by the income. Also has brought 'new blood' into the area. Most locals are fairly knowledgeable about the goings on and are content to live with them. However we have had 'Stop Sizewell B' and now 'Stop Sizewell C'. Every now and then they dress up a bit silly and shout about things.
I think it is a struggle to find finance for Nuclear, maybe Sizewell C will go ahead but is Bradwell a serious proposition?

On the subject of Tesco, we also have a Tesco being built on the site of an old garage. The protestors were virtually all second-home owners and out-of-towners lead by a person who runs a business renting out cottages she has been snapping up for approx. £1000 a week. This person has been here for a very short time, unlike some locals who have been here for a few hundred years. 'Don't spoil our dear little town' is the patronising theme of her protest, not 'give the locals a break and a choice from the overpriced and complacent Co-op' (which is next door to the site btw). Tesco built a medium size store opposite Waitrose in Saxmundham which was useful, and amusing. There is a definite social divide in the 'class' of shopper, I, fortunately, am not conventional in my shopping habits but like competition and convenience.

Unfortunately, those who protest tend to be the loud voices, whilst those who don't, and actually support and want the proposals to go ahead, tend to keep quiet. The end result is that the minority get their way

 

[DavidofMersea]

Can I assume that swimming next to the outfall whilst they are discharging is 100% safe ? I wonder if someone from the nuclear industry or decommissioning team would care to prove this.. All I need is proof and I'm happy.. Not a lot to ask for is it ?

The employees of MAGNOX and their families live and work in and around Bradwell, and they would not cover themselves and their families in dangerous radioactive material. I expect some of them sail from Bradwell marina, and swim from the beach

 

[DanTribe]

Father in law was a health physics monitor [the blokes with Geiger counters] at Bradwell and frequently assured us of the low radioactivity from the site.
One of his favourite subjects was listing everyday objects which were more radioactive, such as;
gas or Tilley lamp mantles.
Brasil nuts.
Red pottery
Green glass
Scotland
Misty mornings.

 

[DavidofMersea]

Father in law was a health physics monitor [the blokes with Geiger counters] at Bradwell and frequently assured us of the low radioactivity from the site.
One of his favourite subjects was listing everyday objects which were more radioactive, such as;
gas or Tilley lamp mantles.
Brasil nuts.
Red pottery
Green glass
Scotland
Misty mornings.

I like the Scotland one - Varrie Blowers, the secretary of BANNG comes from Scotland, and complains about the radioactivity in Bradwell !!!!

 

[ex-Gladys]

I like the Scotland one - Varrie Blowers, the secretary of BANNG comes from Scotland, and complains about the radioactivity in Bradwell !!!!

As a school kid in Cornwall, I still vividly remember the Physics lesson with the permitted sample being in a lead box, and the geiger counter placed inside clicking away at 1-2 clicks per second... The party trick was then to remove the detector from the box and listen to the high pitched whistle from the background radiation in a granite building... And in those days, before holiday homes, a lot of people seemed to live to a ripe old age...