Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 3]

[P-Jay]

Dr Jekyll said:

Jimmyarm said:

Instead of ramming more tiny houses into already overmilked areas, why don't 'we' start creating more towns and villages ?

Because people jump up and down if they think the countryside is being paved over. So giving permission for development on so called 'brownfield sites' such as tiny spare corners is politically easier.

This, it's more than just 'people power' though, planning rules certainly favour 'Brownfield' which favour lots of little flats / houses crammed near other ones - basically the BTL market.

But more than that it is my firm belief that despite publically stating they're for house building, the government is doing everything it can to manage down the rate of building to keep prices high to try to keep the Bank's balance sheets in the black.

[Evoluzione]

P-Jay said:

Dr Jekyll said:

Jimmyarm said:

Instead of ramming more tiny houses into already overmilked areas, why don't 'we' start creating more towns and villages ?

Because people jump up and down if they think the countryside is being paved over. So giving permission for development on so called 'brownfield sites' such as tiny spare corners is politically easier.

This, it's more than just 'people power' though, planning rules certainly favour 'Brownfield' which favour lots of little flats / houses crammed near other ones - basically the BTL market.

But more than that it is my firm belief that despite publically stating they're for house building, the government is doing everything it can to manage down the rate of building to keep prices high to try to keep the Bank's balance sheets in the black.

It isn't thought through very well though, where are the businesses that were on these brown field sites supposed to go? The knock on effect (where I live) is that we now have practically no local businesses at all as they have nowhere to go locally, we all have to drive to different areas to go to work and any local custom has to follow us too.
The place has just become one huge housing estate.

[wiggy001]

Evoluzione said:

P-Jay said:

Dr Jekyll said:

Jimmyarm said:

Instead of ramming more tiny houses into already overmilked areas, why don't 'we' start creating more towns and villages ?

Because people jump up and down if they think the countryside is being paved over. So giving permission for development on so called 'brownfield sites' such as tiny spare corners is politically easier.

This, it's more than just 'people power' though, planning rules certainly favour 'Brownfield' which favour lots of little flats / houses crammed near other ones - basically the BTL market.

But more than that it is my firm belief that despite publically stating they're for house building, the government is doing everything it can to manage down the rate of building to keep prices high to try to keep the Bank's balance sheets in the black.

It isn't thought through very well though, where are the businesses that were on these brown field sites supposed to go? The knock on effect (where I live) is that we now have practically no local businesses at all as they have nowhere to go locally, we all have to drive to different areas to go to work and any local custom has to follow us too.
The place has just become one huge housing estate.

Where I live (small village on the outskirts of a suburban town) they are proposing to built a "garden village" which loosely translates as "concreting over anything green in the area, making one large town".

As you can tell there will be a certain amount of opposition to this (and rightly so) but I'm not confident it will make much difference.

[Europa1]

wiggy001 said:

Where I live (small village on the outskirts of a suburban town) they are proposing to built a "garden village" which loosely translates as "concreting over anything green in the area, making one large town".

As you can tell there will be a certain amount of opposition to this (and rightly so) but I'm not confident it will make much difference.

I suspect you are right regarding opposition making little difference. The majority of residents on my street recently objected to a developer's plans to turn one of the houses (3 bed semi) into a 6 (ensuite) bed HMO. The chair of the planning committee could not have been more dismissive of the residents' objections - apparently our opportunity to object was to have taken part in the "democratic process" by which the local plan was adopted. Ah yes, thanks for that Councillor - of course we should have objected to plans submitted in June 2016 back in 2003.

[ambuletz]

Why do so many people when they reach very old age end up being so hunch backed? why is their posture so terrible? ok it's not 100% but it is almost a stereotype of very old people. surely being bent over like that places even MORE strain on your back then being upright?

question inspired by this vid i just saw.
https://www.facebook.com/FunniestAndCraziestVideos...


I hope I never end up with a posture like that.

[deeen]

ambuletz said:

Why do so many people when they reach very old age end up being so hunch backed? why is their posture so terrible? ok it's not 100% but it is almost a stereotype of very old people. surely being bent over like that places even MORE strain on your back then being upright?

question inspired by this vid i just saw.
https://www.facebook.com/FunniestAndCraziestVideos...


I hope I never end up with a posture like that.

Well part of it is age related muscle wastage (sorry forgot the proper name) actualy starts from average age around 37 in men, I think.

[popeyewhite]

deeen said:

Well part of it is age related muscle wastage (sorry forgot the proper name) actualy starts from average age around 37 in men, I think.

As we age the vertebrae dry out and get squeezed together, giving that shorter, hunched over look. Also more prevalent in women than men is osteoporosis.

[SpeckledJim]

Europa1 said:

wiggy001 said:

Where I live (small village on the outskirts of a suburban town) they are proposing to built a "garden village" which loosely translates as "concreting over anything green in the area, making one large town".

As you can tell there will be a certain amount of opposition to this (and rightly so) but I'm not confident it will make much difference.

I suspect you are right regarding opposition making little difference. The majority of residents on my street recently objected to a developer's plans to turn one of the houses (3 bed semi) into a 6 (ensuite) bed HMO. The chair of the planning committee could not have been more dismissive of the residents' objections - apparently our opportunity to object was to have taken part in the "democratic process" by which the local plan was adopted. Ah yes, thanks for that Councillor - of course we should have objected to plans submitted in June 2016 back in 2003.

But the committee should rightly be biased towards a 'yes' unless the reasons for 'no' are overwhelming. Otherwise nothing would ever get done.

I'm guessing the reasons for objecting to the HMO were partly traffic and parking, and partly house prices, partly not wanting someone to make a few quid, and (mainly) not wanting to live in proximity to people who can't even afford their own bloody kitchen.

[P-Jay]

wiggy001 said:

Evoluzione said:

P-Jay said:

Dr Jekyll said:

Jimmyarm said:

Instead of ramming more tiny houses into already overmilked areas, why don't 'we' start creating more towns and villages ?

Because people jump up and down if they think the countryside is being paved over. So giving permission for development on so called 'brownfield sites' such as tiny spare corners is politically easier.

This, it's more than just 'people power' though, planning rules certainly favour 'Brownfield' which favour lots of little flats / houses crammed near other ones - basically the BTL market.

But more than that it is my firm belief that despite publically stating they're for house building, the government is doing everything it can to manage down the rate of building to keep prices high to try to keep the Bank's balance sheets in the black.

It isn't thought through very well though, where are the businesses that were on these brown field sites supposed to go? The knock on effect (where I live) is that we now have practically no local businesses at all as they have nowhere to go locally, we all have to drive to different areas to go to work and any local custom has to follow us too.
The place has just become one huge housing estate.

Where I live (small village on the outskirts of a suburban town) they are proposing to built a "garden village" which loosely translates as "concreting over anything green in the area, making one large town".

As you can tell there will be a certain amount of opposition to this (and rightly so) but I'm not confident it will make much difference.

I'd like to hold my hometown (Cardiff) as doing it the 'right' way. Or at least one of the six new developments is anyway. They're building a new suburb, sort of - it'll have it's down exit from the M4 as it's southerly entrance and links to a smallish suburb to the north, will have it's own shops etc.

Still won't be univerally loved of course, some farm land has gone, the people of the existing suburb won't like the extra traffic, nor will the users of Jnc 33, but you can't please 'em all.

[The Don of Croy]

SpeckledJim said:

The Don of Croy said:

SpeckledJim said:

What I don't understand is that this problem is so long-standing yet the farmers haven't managed to organise themselves in such a way as to demand and achieve a better price?

Why haven't they effectively 'unionised' and en masse refused sale at intolerable prices?

Google it. There's a history of co-operative arrangements coming and going, usually after some price strife, then rinse and repeat. Unigate was iirc a co-operative venture, and ASsociated DAiries...

So are we to feel sorry for them or not? Are they bullied and abused, or just not very good at running their businesses?

It's not that simple. Factor in HMG involvement (price caps etc) and they've probably tried every permutation under the sun. Then along comes foot and mouth and all bets are off. Big time.

I am a long way from expert in this - I listen to The Archers for chrissakes - but it's very disorganised industry involving huge variations in size and yield, plus added emotional baggage (not just me liking the view of meadows and cows, but the producers having a deeper and long lasting attachment to their land and the herd).

In short, a bit of both.

[ambuletz]

In the past few weeks I've woken up around 7:45, give or take 5minutes. +How is your body able to wake you up at almost the exact time each morning? (sometimes regardless of what time you went to bed). I haven't got an alarm set.

[Shakermaker]

ambuletz said:

In the past few weeks I've woken up around 7:45, give or take 5minutes. +How is your body able to wake you up at almost the exact time each morning? (sometimes regardless of what time you went to bed). I haven't got an alarm set.

Cicadian rhythm.

IIRC Your body is attuned to the environment around you pretty much without the need for all the stimuli that you think you need, and works on a series of 8-12 hour cycles. that in turn, works out that you do 2 or 3 of these cycles per day.

[walm]

ambuletz said:

In the past few weeks I've woken up around 7:45, give or take 5minutes. +How is your body able to wake you up at almost the exact time each morning? (sometimes regardless of what time you went to bed). I haven't got an alarm set.

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/uk/london

A bit of sun might help too... sunrise shifts only by a couple of mins a day IIRC.

[Europa1]

After a spell with many meetings in London, some train related ones:

- when I buy a ticket on a route served by more than one company, how is it decided whether the money goes to Virgin Trains East Coast or Great Northern?
- when I buy a single ticket from a machine, why does it give me 3 pieces of card?
- when I reach my destination and put my ticket into the barrier, why at some stations does it get eaten and others it pops out for me to take back?

And one from my normal commute: why can't train companies come up with an Oyster-style season ticket, instead of me having to get the card ticket out of the little plastic folder to put it through the machine at the barrier?

And one that has also appeared in the "Things that annoy you beyond reason" thread: how do people arrive at the ticket barrier and then appear flummoxed by the need to produce a ticket to put through the machine? And then stand there, blocking the barrier, whilst they try and find said ticket, oblivious to all the other passengers who have got an ounce of sense and are ready for the barrier but are being held up Terry A. fkwit?

[walm]

Europa1 said:

After a spell with many meetings in London, some train related ones:

- when I buy a ticket on a route served by more than one company, how is it decided whether the money goes to Virgin Trains East Coast or Great Northern?
- when I buy a single ticket from a machine, why does it give me 3 pieces of card?
- when I reach my destination and put my ticket into the barrier, why at some stations does it get eaten and others it pops out for me to take back?

And one from my normal commute: why can't train companies come up with an Oyster-style season ticket, instead of me having to get the card ticket out of the little plastic folder to put it through the machine at the barrier?

And one that has also appeared in the "Things that annoy you beyond reason" thread: how do people arrive at the ticket barrier and then appear flummoxed by the need to produce a ticket to put through the machine? And then stand there, blocking the barrier, whilst they try and find said ticket, oblivious to all the other passengers who have got an ounce of sense and are ready for the barrier but are being held up Terry A. fkwit?

I have my SWT season ticket on a smart card.
The guards hate it.
The barriers like it.

[GroundEffect]

ambuletz said:

In the past few weeks I've woken up around 7:45, give or take 5minutes. +How is your body able to wake you up at almost the exact time each morning? (sometimes regardless of what time you went to bed). I haven't got an alarm set.

Because it's your body deciding that this is already a long-enough lie-in! Bloody 0745.

[wiggy001]

P-Jay said:

wiggy001 said:

Evoluzione said:

P-Jay said:

Dr Jekyll said:

Jimmyarm said:

Instead of ramming more tiny houses into already overmilked areas, why don't 'we' start creating more towns and villages ?

Because people jump up and down if they think the countryside is being paved over. So giving permission for development on so called 'brownfield sites' such as tiny spare corners is politically easier.

This, it's more than just 'people power' though, planning rules certainly favour 'Brownfield' which favour lots of little flats / houses crammed near other ones - basically the BTL market.

But more than that it is my firm belief that despite publically stating they're for house building, the government is doing everything it can to manage down the rate of building to keep prices high to try to keep the Bank's balance sheets in the black.

It isn't thought through very well though, where are the businesses that were on these brown field sites supposed to go? The knock on effect (where I live) is that we now have practically no local businesses at all as they have nowhere to go locally, we all have to drive to different areas to go to work and any local custom has to follow us too.
The place has just become one huge housing estate.

Where I live (small village on the outskirts of a suburban town) they are proposing to built a "garden village" which loosely translates as "concreting over anything green in the area, making one large town".

As you can tell there will be a certain amount of opposition to this (and rightly so) but I'm not confident it will make much difference.

I'd like to hold my hometown (Cardiff) as doing it the 'right' way. Or at least one of the six new developments is anyway. They're building a new suburb, sort of - it'll have it's down exit from the M4 as it's southerly entrance and links to a smallish suburb to the north, will have it's own shops etc.

Still won't be univerally loved of course, some farm land has gone, the people of the existing suburb won't like the extra traffic, nor will the users of Jnc 33, but you can't please 'em all.

Probably for a separate thread but our new garden village would double the population of the area, yet provide no extra school places (1 local school can extend onto its playing fields if it wants), no extra doctors and not solution to the current traffic problems in the area. My particular village has around 200 residents and 1 small primary school (intake per year: 15) and they are proposing around 4-500 extra homes just in our village.

[mickk]

GroundEffect said:

ambuletz said:

In the past few weeks I've woken up around 7:45, give or take 5minutes. +How is your body able to wake you up at almost the exact time each morning? (sometimes regardless of what time you went to bed). I haven't got an alarm set.

Because it's your body deciding that this is already a long-enough lie-in! Bloody 0745.

My alarm wakes me every morning at 5 o'clock, come the weekend when I don't set the alarm I still wake at 5.

[Vipers]

mickk said:

GroundEffect said:

ambuletz said:

In the past few weeks I've woken up around 7:45, give or take 5minutes. +How is your body able to wake you up at almost the exact time each morning? (sometimes regardless of what time you went to bed). I haven't got an alarm set.

Because it's your body deciding that this is already a long-enough lie-in! Bloody 0745.

My alarm wakes me every morning at 5 o'clock, come the weekend when I don't set the alarm I still wake at 5.

I wake up before the alarm goes off, else err in doors moans.............

[Ayahuasca]

Soap. How does it work?