wrote on 05 August 2012
20:23:29 ...
On 05/08/2012 13:20, Robin9 wrote:
martin_petrov;132158 Wrote:
On Fri, 03 Aug 2012 08:37:41 +0000, boltar2003 wrote:
-
So the eastern end of the central line has been shut down twice now
during the Olympics for the usual pathetic excuses. Can Blunderground
go
for the hat-trick and win Olympic gold in the synchronised team
incompetance?-

I guess you've been saving "London Blunderground" up for this - you must
be gutted that all you've got is a couple of minor incidents that really
had zero impact on people getting to the games?

Zero impact? TfL were advising passengers to avoid both the Jubilee and
Central Lines and instead to go by District Line to West Ham . . . and
to walk from there to the Olympic Park! Do you know how far that is? Do
you know how many elderly people were obliged to make that expedition?
Westfield Shopping Centre was closed to non Olympic people. A new,
major shopping precinct closed! Zero impact!

When was Westfield closed? I was there on Sunday and two weeks ago, and
I had not noticed any closures. Indeed, I saw very little delay in even
getting across the bridge to get to either Westfield of to the Olympic park.

It was not closed. It was open only to Olympics visitors on Friday and
Saturday 3/4 Aug. And despite all the anti-TfL ranting in this thread,
this was not in any way caused by TfL.
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

And despite all the anti-TfL ranting in this
thread, this was not in any way caused by TfL.

Who then please was responsible for the decision and for it being
communicated so late? (TfL were in the frame in all the reports I saw,
and I have seen no statement from an official source other than that
from TfL - see eg
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/medi...tre/25135.aspx)
--
Robin
reply to address is (meant to be) valid

There is a perfectly decent Waitrose at South Woodford which is about
5-7 mins walk from the tube. It has a far better range that the
Waitrose at Stratford which I find disappointing. If push came to
shove you could go to Waitrose at Holloway Road - Overground to
Highbury and 43/271/393 bus up the road.

There is also a decent M&S at Ilford which is a train or bus ride from
Stratford. OK it's not Oxford St but it's not bad for food. Stratford
is better clothes wise but who needs to buy clothes so urgently that
they're deprived if a shop is closed for 7 hours?

I know both South Woodford and Ilford but from Homerton both involve
travel via Stratford. I was planning on walking the c.3 miles to
Westfield on Friday morning to avoid travel congestion and then take the
Overgound back: early in the day the Westbound services have been fine.


How do you know it wasn't part of the plans all along? You're
guessing.

Umm - ISTR that I very deliberately did not assume it wasn't part of
the plans all along. And looking back I see I wrote "In other words
they are either liars or
continuing the practice perciewved [sic] from TfL and LOCOG for a long
time now: tell the locals as little as possible as late as possible so
they don't have time to complain ('cos we'll ignore their complaints in
any event so we can only win)." Please note "either ... or....".

That said, I do admire the way you translate "tell the locals as little
as possible as late as possible " into "the "best" way to handle the
communication issue": you are a press officer AICMFP

--
Robin
reply to address is (meant to be) valid

In message , at 19:46:32 on Sun, 5 Aug 2012,
Robin remarked:

1. The nearest other Waitrose is Canary Wharf which is a bit of a bloody
pain to get to compared with Westfield for a lot of us locals. For a
decent size M&S it's Oxford Street:

Would it kill you to shop at Tesco for a day or two?
--
Roland Perry

"Richard J." wrote in message ...
When was Westfield closed? I was there on Sunday and two weeks ago, and
I had not noticed any closures. Indeed, I saw very little delay in even
getting across the bridge to get to either Westfield of to the Olympic
park.

It was not closed. It was open only to Olympics visitors on Friday and
Saturday 3/4 Aug. And despite all the anti-TfL ranting in this thread,
this was not in any way caused by TfL.

I was there on Saturday lunchtime and it appeared anyone could enter freely.
Seems to have been an attempt by TfL to scare people away rather than a
genuine closure.

Peter Smyth

Peter Smyth wrote on 05 August 2012 22:16:26 ...
"Richard J." wrote in message ...
When was Westfield closed? I was there on Sunday and two weeks ago, and
I had not noticed any closures. Indeed, I saw very little delay in even
getting across the bridge to get to either Westfield of to the Olympic
park.

It was not closed. It was open only to Olympics visitors on Friday and
Saturday 3/4 Aug. And despite all the anti-TfL ranting in this thread,
this was not in any way caused by TfL.

I was there on Saturday lunchtime and it appeared anyone could enter freely.
Seems to have been an attempt by TfL to scare people away rather than a
genuine closure.

Oh, for heaven's sake! TfL do not run Westfield Stratford City. The
restricted opening was decided upon by LOCOG and Westfield, and
announced on both their websites. The press and TfL relayed the message.

If the restrictions were relaxed by lunchtime, I guess that was done
after reviewing traffic levels, as has also happened tactically with
Games Lanes.
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

Would it kill you to shop at Tesco for a day or two?

No. But then I did mention I wanted something special. I also know
full well that the Tesco stores within easy reach of here during the
games cannot be relied upon to have the full range of Finest food.

It also would not have killed the Games organisers to tell us about road
closures earlier than 2 weeks before the games. It would also not have
killed them to have avoided lying about the arrangements for parking
permits (eg arguing repeatedly that it was impossible lawfully to buy a
car without getting a V5C, and that DVLA would process a change of
ownership within 5 days). I don't expect perfection but I can assure you
I am not the only person living near the site who is fed up with their
"never apologise, never explain" approach.
--
Robin
reply to address is (meant to be) valid

On 2012\08\05 23:18, Paul Corfield wrote:

I am not a press officer or anything else at the moment.

Sorry to hear that, Paul, I hope something turns up.

"Robin" wrote:

No. But then I did mention I wanted something special. I also know
full well that the Tesco stores within easy reach of here during the
games cannot be relied upon to have the full range of Finest food.

What's the phrase - "first world problem"?

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK. Put first name before the at to reply.

In article , (Robin) wrote:

The nearest other Waitrose is Canary Wharf which is a bit of a
bloody pain to get to compared with Westfield for a lot of us
locals. For a decent size M&S it's Oxford Street: no better with
all that extra traffic on the Overground.

You could always try Sainsbury, Morrisons, Asda or... Tesco.

All of which are within easy reach of Westfield

--
Paul Cummins - Always a NetHead
Catching a train home from work