Boris is going to turn the River Fleet into a 'Venetian style waterway'!

[GarfieldLeChat]

yeah like anyone inthe uk is adventurious enough to build osmehting like that or conversely that Health and safety would allow open banked rivers to be recreated these days there'd be 9 foot tall fences along each bank in order to prevent the one in 1 billion drunk moron from falling in killing themselves and sueing...

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

yeah like anyone inthe uk is adventurious enough to build osmehting like that or conversely that Health and safety would allow open banked rivers to be recreated these days there'd be 9 foot tall fences along each bank in order to prevent the one in 1 billion drunk moron from falling in killing themselves and sueing...

There's stepping stones there as well. There's no way H&S would allow that in case the stones were slippery

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

There's stepping stones there as well. There's no way H&S would allow that in case the stones were slippery

that was the thing that made me think more than pie in the sky

 

[London_Calling]

I wonder how much sneering and cynicism we'd be seeing here if this had been one of Livingstone's ideas?

I'm sure the idea hasn't just materialised. It will be one that Ken didn't pick up and Boris did - each for their own reasons.

One of Ken's reasons might have been 'fucking stupid idea, got no chance' whereas Boris will think 'ahh, my next eco publicity stunt before doing something to increase congestion'.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

and yet a strict country like Singapore will allow kids to play at this fountain

 

[stat]

yeah like anyone inthe uk is adventurious enough to build osmehting like that or conversely that Health and safety would allow open banked rivers to be recreated these days there'd be 9 foot tall fences along each bank in order to prevent the one in 1 billion drunk moron from falling in killing themselves and sueing...

I know your post is tongue-in-cheek, but Seoul's cheongyechun 'river' is only a foot or so deep.

'Elf'n'safety at British Waterways do allow loads of cyclists and pedestrians to use the footpath alongside the much deeper regents canal without any barrier whatsoever... and the same goes for the River Lea too.

 

[laptop]

I know your post is tongue-in-cheek, but Seoul's cheongyechun 'river' is only a foot or so deep.

And the People's Princess Pissoir in Hyde Park is shallower than that

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

I know your post is tongue-in-cheek, but Seoul's cheongyechun 'river' is only a foot or so deep.

'Elf'n'safety at British Waterways do allow loads of cyclists and pedestrians to use the footpath alongside the much deeper regents canal without any barrier whatsoever... and the same goes for the River Lea too.

yup none of which have been recently built as modern projects. you can't retrofit all the uks rivers however if you were doing this as a new project you'd be obliged to abide by all the new laws...

 

[fjydj]

If Boris keeps on knocking out these delightful-sounding but practically unrealistic fab wheezes, folks are going to get a little pissed off eventually when none materialise.

well you seem pissed off already and, without giving him a chance, are sneering at his proposals.

 

[Final]

Recover those rivers = best idea I've heard for ages.

Given the cost and inconvenience I'm not going to hold my breath, but if anyone (Boris / future mayor / whoever) had the will and the drive to return them to the surface with proper banks and stuff instead of the ugly concrete channels then...

well, I'd be pretty happy.

Canonise them, stick a statue up in Trafalgar Sq, the works.

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

well you seem pissed off already and, without giving him a chance, are sneering at his proposals.

tbf he's not got a great track record for not acting like an arse....Boris not the editor...

 

[editor]

well you seem pissed off already and, without giving him a chance, are sneering at his proposals.

He's already notched up his fantasy Routemaster romp, the fourth plinth fiasco and the ludicrous ban on drinking on the tube, so I'd say he's already off to a flying start.

And then there's the long, long list of gaffes chalked up before he came into office....

 

[laptop]

Anyway, let's look at the engineering.

Opening up the lower Fleet involves digging up the whole of Farrringdon Street and New Bridge Street.

The present outlet to the Thames is directly under the Blackfriars road bridge.

I seem to recall that the Fleet runs in a metal box over the Thameslink line and the Circle Line too - in the "gridiron" North of Farringdon station; from the top you have Clerkenwell Road, the Fleet, the Circle Line and Thameslink all criss-crossing. Storm water overflowing Boris' new aqueduct onto the 600 V live rails and especially the 25,000 V overhead wire would be... colourful

 

[scifisam]

I like the idea, but I like lots of ideas. The Fleet is far from accessible or useable as a river, though.

these are just proposals at the moment but a quieter greener London will be much nicer I like the sound of this plan:

for a tree-lined pedestrian promenade linking Primrose Hill in the north of the city to the Embankment via Oxford Circus and Trafalgar Square. It would be modelled on Las Ramblas, a boulevard in Barcelona.

more here

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4138268.ece

How the Hell would it be possible to have a pedestrian promenade that long? And wouldn't car drivers be just a little pissed off at the city being sliced in two, forcing them to drive around the 'promenade?'

Jesus. Try a little harder, really.

 

[Final]

map of the River Fleet:

(bit too big to do an )

[url]http://www.fluffhouse.org.uk/lynnette/stuff/mappe2.jpg[/url]

ets: goes close to my place in Kentish Town :-)

 

[RubyToogood]

We are looking at raising the Wandle

The Wandle is not a lost river, most of it is overground already, quite a bit of it flowing through parks, and I think the Wandle Trail goes alongside it nearly all the way. I think the only major underground bit is under the Arndale Centre.

 

[bluestreak]

I would happily have every Arndale Centre in the country bulldozed. It could be his legacy.

 

[scifisam]

Actually, from that article I like this bit:

The mayor is also determined to improve the quality of new housing. “For the past 30 years we’ve been building rabbit hutches with low ceilings and little storage space,” said Milton.

“In the 1960s, we had minimum standards for space but they’ve been slowly abandoned. Boris wants to reinstate them.”

It might be feasible.

I'm confused by this, though:

A source close to the mayor said: “Boris is very keen on the idea. An airport in the estuary would mean nobody living under the flightpath and plenty of space to expand.”

Nobody except all the people who live in that area? We really do not need more airports.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Boris seems to have been hijacked by designers working for developers.

The mayor is also determined to improve the quality of new housing. “For the past 30 years we’ve been building rabbit hutches with low ceilings and little storage space,” said Milton.

“In the 1960s, we had minimum standards for space but they’ve been slowly abandoned. Boris wants to reinstate them.”

Those minimum standards for space were not "slowly abandoned" the legislation was deleted by Margaret Thatcher who was infested with spokesmen from her own favourite developers including Bovis looking to cut standards and so costs.

 

[laptop]

Those minimum standards for space were not "slowly abandoned" the legislation was deleted by Margaret Thatcher who was infested with spokesmen from her own favourite developers including Bovis looking to cut standards and so costs.

They were the Parker-Morris standards for council housing.

Bovis' problem was that they wanted to build little hutches all made of ticky-tacky, but couldn't sell them while council houses were better.

So Thatcher, indeed, abandoned them.

I spy a Boris own goal here...

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

Boris seems to have been hijacked by designers working for developers.



Those minimum standards for space were not "slowly abandoned" the legislation was deleted by Margaret Thatcher who was infested with spokesmen from her own favourite developers including Bovis looking to cut standards and so costs.

regardless of why they were abandoned is it a bad thing that he's thinking of bring them back?

 

[Yelkcub]

Gondola routemasters?

Pah! Bendy gondolas are where at's at!

 

[hipipol]

Early days yet for Uncle Fluffy-Head

Bendy gonad-ulahs aside - well they would be handy to ferry electrocuted train passengers from Farringdon to St Tommies - suspect that TV Personality BoJo is going to find the going well tough when he actually tries to impliment some of the grander notions currently flitting around his head.
He may however turn out like Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria and be happy with knowing the odd fairytale castle is being built and not bother to get involved in the day to day running of the city at all - which would be a result
A turreted building or two with a moat and minstrels is probably money well spent if it keeps him away from the important stuff

 

[laptop]

A turreted building or two with a moat and minstrels is probably money well spent if it keeps him away from the important stuff

Serving suggestion: just add moat and minstrels

 

[geoff64]

This is more like it - on Hampstead Heath ...

 

[Final]

This is more like it - on Hampstead Heath ...

On the heath!!!
Where am I supposed to go running after that?

Stick it on top of highgate instead

 

[ViolentPanda]

The Wandle is not a lost river, most of it is overground already, quite a bit of it flowing through parks, and I think the Wandle Trail goes alongside it nearly all the way. I think the only major underground bit is under the Arndale Centre.

Yep, Arndale and Wandsworth high street, then it's open most of the way to the Thames except for about 100 yards that go under a bit of riverside parkland and some industrial wasteland.

Bloody hell, I remember me and some mates navigating the bit under the Arndale around about 1976 with nowt but torches and sticks (to fight off the rats ), started at King George's park and came out beside Young's Brewery.
It was supposed to have been sealed at both ends with grills, but given the amount of litter (and shopping trolleys) that used to go into the Wandle around King George's park, they probably removed them pretty soon after the Arndale was built.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I would happily have every Arndale Centre in the country bulldozed. It could be his legacy.

I'm quite fond of the Wandsworth Arndale, mostly because it (and the car parks) made a great "adventure playground" for a certain early to mid-teen way back in the mists of pre-Thatcherism.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Pah! Bendy gondolas are where at's at!

If he wants people to be able to navigate the Fleet, then submersible amphibious gondolas might be the best proposition.