Conspiracy

This should get the conspiracy theorists thinking.

About 2 years or so ago, our local steelworks went out of business. There was the usual grumbling, empty government promises to help the redundant workers etc, but in reality no hope of it reopening. Even speaking to some of the contractors involved in the shutdown, while out boozing in the local pubs, word was that there was no way it would reopen, given that they'd welded bits shut, removed rails from the on-site railway, filled stuff with thousands of tonnes of earth.

Fast forward a bit. Global financial crisis rocks Europe, uprisings happen in the middle east. Things look very serious indeed, and a buyer for the local steelworks suddenly appears from nowhere. Within about 6 months, the mothballed site is almost ready to resume steel production. Thousands of tonnes of ore have been delivered and driving past, the trains are there. The blast furnace is showing signs of activity, ready for the anticipated startup next month.

Meanwhile, entirely separate to that, some of the locals are whining about the new sea defences we're getting. Right now, right along the sea front, a wall is going up that must be easily 6ft high, higher than head height for most, bye bye sea view. Hundred of bulk bags of building aggregates are lined up along there too, but only in front of the main built up part of town. The wall doesn't extend all the way along, so any storms will simply bypass the defences and flood the town from the east and west ends. Still, at least there is a large, very thick, reinforced concrete wall blocking the sea view. It almost looks like a barricade

Oh and we're getting a new tower thing right on the sea front. It's being billed as a 'vertical pier', and was originally going to be open to the public (during the planning application phase). They said we'd be able to see out to sea for many miles. The latest publicity suggests it is now going to be a business centre, so not really open to the public at all.

Still, we're getting our steel production back, and a massive reinforced concrete wall protecting the town from the sea, and a massive tower to help us see what might be in the sea. Oh, and some sort of construction work just off the coast, running about 5 miles either side of tees mouth. A wind farm we're told. I guess it might help break up the currents a bit helping the shipping that comes in and out of the tees, so that nothing accidentally gets washed up against the very high value gas pipelines that come in there, or all the industry.

And then in a completely unrelated thing, today I read this news article.
BBC News - Ground-to-air missiles 'may protect' London 2012 games

And this one:
BBC News - BAE job cuts: Eurofighter Typhoon order due from India

Oh and this one:
BBC News - Euro crisis 'opportunity for UK' to reclaim powers - PM

I now step back, and wait for the conspiracy theorists to make something of all these coincidences.

 

Yep.

There are three distinct groups on that one. There's a very vocal minority that oppose it. A bigger minority in favour, and a majority who don't really care. Not caring is not news, neither is supporting something, so the local media pick up more on the opposition because that's news. Especially at a time when government cuts are biting. The bit that is less publicised (because it would appease people and is therefore not newsworthy) is that the funding for it is coming out of the EU, and is outside of the normal day to day stuff. The conditions of the grant stipulate that it gets spent on regeneration of the sea front to promote business and tourism.

I'm in favour of the 'vertical pier'. A proper pier would be pointless here. We've got Saltburn just 5 miles down the coast which really pushes its Victorian heritage, with the 'original' pier (the pillars have been replaced, and then later the decking was replaced, and its been smashed in numerous storms, had a ship drive right through it, randomly collapsed, and been cut short during WW2 for fear of the Germans using it to land on, but its still original). Saltburn also has the old water powered cliff lift dating back to queen Vic's day, the Victorian Italian gardens, and lots of other Victorian stuff. It also shares a beach with Redcar (it's all one long bay) and has its own shops and bars etc. So if a pier was going to be the attraction, people would be better off going to Saltburn. Redcar is largely much newer, so if it is going to be a place to visit, it has to take a newer approach. The vertical pier, the new leisure centre we're getting, and the new promenade will all go towards that. If it works, it will give visitors to the area a choice of two different worlds within easy reach of each other.

I know, it was tongue in cheek. I was hinting that we were secretly preparing for war, but I know in this day and age a little coastal watch tower wouldn't really matter as much as in WW2 days, nor will a little concrete wall.