how bloody short sighted

[sailbadthesinner]

sorry i cannot go upstairs and check the exact station (mrs s is sleeping)
bit i think it is rhyll
the rnli has been denied permission for a new lifeboat shed as the current one is not big enough to house the latest model
the council planning comittee has determined that the new shed would involve the reduction/demolition of a listed sea wall and spoil the views ( presumably of an unspoilt contiguous sea wall)

do we regard this as a triumph of conservation over new technology required to save idiots
or is it short sightedeness that will preserve stonework overlives?

i am undecided
how far do we go?
do we have a lifeboat on every beach?
or do we try to push respect for the sea and make it the last bastion of personal responsibility that cannot be sued??????????

 

[StugeronSteve]

Rather depends on the anticipated use of the lifeboat I spose. If a bigger boat is needed to rescue more idiots in one swell foop, I'm not so sure. But, if the bigger boat gives the RNLI a greater range and rescue capability for dealing with serious offshore incidents, then the planning decision has to be considered flawed. Unless, of course, we are only getting the emotive bit of the story as usual, and there is the possibility of another, more suited, location being offered for the boat .

 

[pragmatist]

Obviously didn't proffer enough used fivers to the council planning dept IMHO

 

[paulskent]

There is one of the bigger offshore lifeboats stationed just round the corner at Llandudno. Also a Station at Conwy. Not sure why they need one at Rhyll. Perhaps to cover the north and the Dee estuary??

 

[Talbot]

Being an enormous cynic, I suspect that the nearbye location of other RNLI assets may well be the answer to this. The RNLI will be able to blame the local council for withdrawing this station, and state that they will have to make do with other local assets due to the councils intransigence.

Would not be the first time

 

[TheHunter]

You see, it's not what you know that counts - it's what you don't know!

 

[Benbow]

[ QUOTE ]
Not sure why they need one at Rhyll. Perhaps to cover the north and the Dee estuary??

[/ QUOTE ]

There's an offshore boat at Hoylake at the mouth of the Dee. I believe they have just received permission to expand their boathouse. There's another at New Brighton, a stone's throw away at the mouth of the Mersey.

 

[Birdseye]

Its awkward isnt it. I mean, how can you deny the RNLI anything when they save lives, and how can you criticize them? Yet are they really making the best of the money we give them? Do they really need ever larger lifeboats - since the old ones are always good enough for some other similar outfit to want to buy? Or ever glitzier lifeboat stations?

I would be bl**dy grateful if they ever rescued me, but I would be grateful to the individuals who risked their lives without pay to do so - not to the part of the organisation that builds flash lifeboat stations and insists on specially designed equipment for it.

I may be totally wrong but there is something about what I see of the RNLI that suggests to me they have too much easy money. Wont stop me giving, mind you.

 

[webcraft]

Planners are the ultimate petty fascists. Generally they have no specialist knowledge, no imagination and a sackful of pathetic axes to grind. They are the scum of the Earth and will be first against the wall come the glorious day . . .

Planners are the people who decide that one and a half storey houses with grey harling that look like public toilets are 'traditional' in so many parts of the country. Planners are the people that hate wooden buildings because they look 'unnatural' and don't blend in with the toilets.

Planners are the people who allow farmers to build massive silos, slurry tanks and aircraft hangars wherever they want but won't let you put a garage up beside your house. Planners are the people who won't let the same farmer build a wee retirement bungalow for himself in his own land when his son takes over the farm.

Planners give their pals permission, and of course anyone who can help them up the greasy pole. They respect money irrespective of how it has been earned. They don't like small people or individuals, but they love huge building companies who sling up jerry-built hutch cities all over our green belts.

Planners are pathetic . . . and no, it's not personal, I've never had a run in with them - just seen enough of the way they operate.

Whew, that feels better . . .

Merry Christmas everyone,

Nick

 

[mirabriani]

I do not know what experience you have had with planners and so I cannot comment.
However my recent experience,at a Counillors planning meeting ( in the London Metropolitan area)
has been that there are now big differences.
Central government have told them back land development is now ok. Also I understand they now have a target of new houses. Brown field sites are to be considered.
There seems to be much less discussion, no vote, if it is
recommended by the planning department it practically goes through on the nod.
I almost felt sympathy!

Merry Christmas Briani

 

[Bergman]

Re: Puzzled

I thought new bigger lifeboats were all permanently afloat so not sure why they need shed.

Or is it a bigger inshore boat? which may be more appropriate to Rhyl (only town in N Wales whose name I can spell)

Agree with all deregatory comments re local authorities -It really is time for a cull.

 

[Peppermint]

it is to put a big lifeboat where there is only a small shed.

Some planners are quite looney but that doesn't mean that all are. It might just be that the local councillors believe that the vast majority of voters in the area would prefer no change to the shed.

It sounds like the RNLI didn't sell their case to the planners very well. After all a RNLI shed brings no great financial benefit to a local community. Most of the people rescued will vote elsewhere, so there's no political advantage either. So the RNLI must work hard to get councilors onside. Odd as it might seem the RNLI isn't always seen as a paragon by coastal communities or even some of it's crewmembers.

 

[ShipsWoofy]

I can add a bit of light here.

Llandudno - Mersey on carriage
Rhyl - Mersey on carriage
Mostyn - D Class
West Kirby - D Class
Hoylake - Mersey on carriage
New Brighton - Atlantic 75

Hoylake, my old station operates from the river Dee throughout Liverpool Bay
Rhyl which is quite close operates over the North Wales coast. Both required, more so if Hoylake was in the Mersey, without Rhyl, Llandudno or Lytham would be the next closest offshore boats. Anyone who knows the coastline between the Dee and Great Orm will know there is nowhere else but Rhyl to station an offshore boat. So on a map it looks like bad planning, but there was not much else in the way of choice.

I know Hoylake is looking to build its new boathouse on the site of the old Lido baths. They are looking to add a museum. I actually do not really see the need for this, the boathouse is quite large enough IMO, the crew rooms were built less than 16 years ago. But I am no longer involved so cannot comment really.

It may have been holylake you heard on the radio as they are or having been looking for planning permission for a new shed.