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Soundings
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Posts posted by Soundings
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Mmmm account still open! Look, I have no gripe with Riccos or their business model. My gripe is damage to what should in my view be a quiet landscape, where to use it is a privilege rather than a right to some wholesale adventure playground. It is regulation on the Broads that dictates business practice. The question is does that regulation work. You know what I think. The pressure on a unique landscape is clear and with the amount of development going on in the area I really do fear for the future.
Clive, sorry if I have offended you and your business. That is not my intention. You have the right to run your business in any way you wish provided it complies with local regulations. Indeed you have a responsibility to do the best for your investors and customers within that framework. What I dispute is that framework and its impact.
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PS the mods were quick at deleting my post but not so nimble at closing my account. Cannot find a way to close it myself - any pointers?
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I do not want a protracted debate and we all have valuable views. IMO big business does not necessarily support the Broads, it uses it. I know all the arguments but I think over the past few years we have seen illustration after illustration that the only interest of business is self interest (intentionally or otherwise). And that is from a guy who has been "blue" forever. Anyway enough is enough, I have asked the mods to close my account. I care for the Broads and for reasons that I hope are clear cannot / should not continue as a member of this forum.
The deletion of my post also shows this is not a place for open debate. I just hope that in years to come the balance is sorted. I do wish Richardsons well and appreciate they are a great holiday outfit with great customer service. I will now retire to my home village and look lovingly at "that bridge".
No hard feelings this end and goodbye :-)
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1 hour ago, KaptinKev said:
I don't get it, Soundings has been a member since 2010 and this comes out. It's either been bottling up inside concerning a certain issue, fell out of the wrong side of the bed, or has had a bad day.
Yup I agree, value for money for users but not value for the Broads as a natural resource. Yes it has been bottled up and I no longer boat on the Broads because of the commercial drivers that business sees as the only purpose the Broads serve. Thank heavens for that bridge, it keeps a bit of Broadland sane. There is no particular issue - this is general. The Broads should be a real National Park....sorry.
Interesting to note my post has been deleted. Says it all! -
On 21/05/2017 at 0:22 AM, CambridgeCabby said:
One thing to bear in mind is that most (but not all) insurers insist on a survey prior to agreeing a policy
They will probably insure third party without survey though. Which might be good enough for a cheap boat.
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2 hours ago, Londonlad1985 said:
The broads need to attract holiday makers that will spend money from stag parties to church outings! Its the diversve types of holiday makers that make boat watching a great sport!
In your opinion
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40 minutes ago, rightsaidfred said:
One or two local Authorities are already adopting this approach, one in Cornwall in particular was mentioned on the TV last week
Fred
Just been a sort of victim of it. We are selling and had a buyer (Norfolk borne and bred) who had sold to a family who have lived in Norfolk in rented for two years and work as nurse and paramedic in a Norfolk hospital. Unfortunately our buyers house has a Section 157 restriction - can only be sold to those who have lived/worked in Norfolk for three years. The council would not let the sale go through and an application to have the restriction lifted was refused. It is now going to appeal.
Obviously I have my own views which I will not share seeing as I have a vested interest!
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Being an old cynic I rather suspect that councils rather like the developers. With the cuts in funding these days they can get the construction companies, as part of the planning deal, to provide "essentials" that they cannot afford to put in place themselves - like roads, new schools, etc.
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I have strong views on all this building and I had best leave it as that. BUT, I do get fed up with the way these big building companies just plunder the area (has anyone looked around Takeley recently and all in a few short years. It is still being developed). Somehow once they get a foot hold there is no stopping them: in-fill, back-fill, side-fill and every other conceivable kind of fill imaginable. And all with houses and estates that look exactly the same - no individuality between neighbourhoods at all.
I drove across the Cambridgeshire fens the other day, through a village in which an old friend of mine once lived. It has not escaped development but the development has been undertaken by local builders and there are all sorts of houses with reasonable sized gardens. It looks so much better and has I think rather enhanced the village.
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2 hours ago, LeoMagill said:
I got fed up with hearing all the swearing and cursing when SWMBO is doing her bits using office 2010 so installed open office and thunderbird for email, works like a charm and most of the swearing has stopped, if it wasn't for a few bits I use that only run on windows I would go fully to linux, I used it back in the days of red hat 9 and setup an old pc to act as router/webserver/ftp server/firewall and it worked well (but took a lot of setting up), I just don't fancy trying to convince her to do the jump.
There is a lot to be said for Linux nowadays but it does, as you say, lack some software. I am heavily into photo editing and music recording and find the support on Linux to be lacking.It is a shame for distros like Ubuntu are so stable now. For email and word-processing though Linux has all Mr Average really needs.
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Such, sad, sad news. Never met him but it somehow did not feel that way. He will be missed greatly.
Condolences to his family.
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Good luck. We need all the pubs we can get!
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Sad news Grendel, but she was in the best place in her world when she made the journey to Rainbow Bridge. That must be a great comfort to you.
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We just do not seem effective in front of goal. It was the same when playing Russia and Wales. There is something wrong somewhere because it is a consistent failing it seems. Yes, we are a hard team to beat but it appears to stop there. We were all over the opposition but .......
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It can be a nightmare on the Ant already. As Speedtriple says there are also all the boats in Broadedge and then there is Broadgate (I think its called) - not to mention the privateers mooring in Riccos.
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12 minutes ago, adam said:
Read on facebook that all horizon craft from richardsons acle will be moving to Stalham next year so going to be chaos in Stalham
You mean its not chaos at times already
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Welcome. I moved here 8 years ago and no regrets. Like anywhere else Norfolk is changing but the Broads area remains stunning - and I live in the middle of it.
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I think Hoveton is kinda ruined from the "historic" point of view by the Roy's complex anyway and to me, although pleasant, is already as you say - a modern town/village with a river running through it. To be honest given the building that is going on in the area there is not much hope for any improvement - Wroxham will become a suburb of Norwich and all the housing/architecture will look the same. There will be no nod to localism. Sad.
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If you have missed the point, Robin, then so be it. It is getting boring now:-). Suffice to say - it is your choice. Do what you like and I shall do likewise. I do not like the rating system and health/safety issues should imho be dealt with on a fit for purpose basis - you are either open or shut. Snap-shot ratings prove very little after the event (like an MOT really, although even this is a fit for purpose assessment) and I am sure there are 5 star establishments that have been below par even after the assessment has been awarded. Things can and do go wrong - that is life unfortunately.
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8 hours ago, LondonRascal said:
I am far more in favour of a ratings system. Let us not forget nothing actually has changed here, it is the process has become more transparent – to us - the people who are the paying punters looking for a meal.
In the past, you still had the local inspector making visits to premises – carrying out checks, and advising the business where they could improve on things, and then making a repeat visit to see if they indeed had. In severe cases the business would be forced to close until it met the standards.
As someone using the business to eat at, you’d have no idea whatsoever what was going on actually now you do because you can make a choice based upon how the business in question is following the hygiene standards.
I like it too there ratings, not just ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ because it shows commitment to the (frankly common sense) standards the business is willing to show. It is not all about costs and staff time either and if some businesses choose to make a big deal of the fact they have the highest ratings for hygiene – then good on them. It might attract a few more people through the doors.
You may have a terrible kitchen at home full of nastiest and not handle food in the correct manner or store it – no judgement there, but people are not customers when they come to you, and you have little duty of care over their health. When you go out and pay for a meal all that changes.
Let us say you went to a place that had the highest food hygiene rating, but food might taste terrible and the service may be appalling and the prices way too high – the point is at least the you know the behind the scenes preparation, cooking and storage areas are as good as they can be so far as hygiene, that the management and staff know what to do and adhere to the standards to keep them at that high level.
Conversely, the place down the road might be cheaper, have better tasting food and a warmer welcome and better service but the fact the salad is stored on the fridge shelf under the raw chicken or the same knife is used to cut the bread as the meat you’d never know but the rating of only 2 may point towards something being amiss in the kitchen.
Just as we all have a choice where to eat, so the restaurants have a choice on how much they follow food hygiene standards. If they do enough to get a rating of 3 and feel that is good enough so be it – but I don’t think it at all bad that we now can, if we want to, check up on a food hygiene rating prior to visit – even if they choose not to to show it on their door.
All been said before, Robin. The facts do not change and nothing you have suggests that either. As you say it is down to individuals but ratings do not have to be displayed (as said before) so unless you look it up on the web site you may not know what the rating is and that might be hard to do if you are just popping into a shop for a quick sandwich or hamburger or if yo are not pc literate. Where I disagree fundamentally is your view that restaurants should be able to decide their own hygiene levels when they don't even have to display openly the rules of the inspection. Thank goodness airlines do not have to decide on their own safety levels!
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Fine, if you intend to visit a website before entering a new (to you) establishment then so be it. Personally, I have better things to do with my time and I have not suffered any ill effects yet.
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19 hours ago, Poppy said:
Disgraceful? I shall continue in my disgraceful behavior. I urge others to join me !
But they don't have to display the one star status do they? If so how do you know for sure that an establishment meets your standards and will not your course only serve to encourage non display.
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10 hours ago, kfurbank said:
Premises with evidence of rat or mouse droppings on the floor do not get shut down immediately, but get improvement notices. Is this right or wrong, personally I think it's wrong. They should be closed until cleansed and re-graded. Those sort of places are more likely to get a 0 or 1 rating. Do you really want to eat there? A place with a rating of 5 will not have such evidence on the floor. I see the scheme as an incentive scheme to encourage businesses to strive to do better. The incentive is, or should be, the higher the score, the more likely they are to gain extra custom.
Do you buy an item of eBay from a seller with a feedback of 98.8% or do you buy the same item from a seller with 99.9 or 100%? I know which I would chose. Would you even pay a few pence more for the item from the person with 99.9%? Again I know which I would choose.
Which ever, what ever, the scheme is about allowing the consumer to make informed choices. Ignore the system if you want, that is your choice, but I for one am glad the scheme is there for people who want to make informed choices.
I think it is wrong. If it is a health issue of any sort the premises should be closed down until passed fit for purpose. Am I correct in my understanding that ratings do not have to be displayed? If so that seems to blow a hole in the idea of "open" information.
Incidentally Ebay 98% - yes would certainly deal with such a trader. The difference between that and 99% is probably an individual or two who have suffered an upset and that may even be due to the postal system rather than the trader.
I agree though, it is my choice.
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I think Speedtriple is of the view that an outlet is either fit for business or it is not. Personally I agree. The idea of a system that says "hey this place is not good but you can come on in if you want" seems ridiculous. And especially so if, and I may be wrong here, there is no law saying the rating must be displayed.
Richardsons Best In Britain!
in Local Broads Business Promotions and Information
Posted
JohnK i really cannot argue wit that. I have to say well said and mean it :-)