Conference govt02::basingstoke

    Paul,
          As a matter of fact Blasingsmoke is _still_ the 2nd most
    prosperous town in England, first is guess where...??..Grantham..
    didn't someone famous come from there..??...3rd is Milton Keynes,
    (Source: magazine found in the smoking room). So chances are, if you
    move somewhere else, it is likely to be worse..!!
    Still fatboy, if you move away..there will be room for at least 2 more 
    people to move in..!!
    and take Tony "rathole" Imbierski with you..!!
    
    :-) :-) :-) x 100's

So where do you think you're going to go thats better?  If you integrate into 
the community wherever you go then the place becomes more than simply a work 
place.  I'm 39 and moved to B/s at age 4 and would not live here by choice 
but now that I have friends here there is no point in moving unless job 
prospects elsewhere are really good.  What you are seeing is probably what is 
affecting every other town in the country - recession.

BTW the lack of traffic jams may be somthing to do with road improvement on 
some of the roundabouts (which I see they have just decided was too effective 
because they've just put it all back as it was on the M3 roundabout to make 
sure the commuters wait a while before entering Basingstoke!)

One thing is certain, you don't want to live in Reading (its bad enough 
working here!).   Basingstoke ain't all that bad as towns go.

Mike

    Hear Hear!!
    
    But the lack of traffic over the last 6 weeks is due to school hols!
    How has it been (for you) the last two days!!
    
    	Andy
    
    N.B I dont live in Basingstoke but see the same sentiments expressed
    everywhere

	
	I heard a rumour that IBM and Mercantile Credit were moving
	out of Basingstoke and back up to the smoke. Seems that they've
	lost a lot of business since moving here !! If this is true, be
	prepared for house prices to tumble even further.

>BTW the lack of traffic jams may be something to do with road improvement on 
>some of the roundabouts...

	Hahahahahahahah what a comedian.

	I fail to see why money is continually poured into white elephant
	road schemes like that at the Black Dam roundabout. Drivers had
	just got used to it since the last change, now its a gone through
	a complete re-design. This time a traffic specialist from Rockall
	got the job.

	I can't wait to see those queues back onto the M3 when the lights
	start working (Arf Arf) !!

		p1

    
    I've got to agree with the last note on the traffic schemes. Everything
    they've done to the roads since I've lived here seems to be
    half-hearted and cheap. - The one way system, 'improvements' to Town
    centre west Roundabout, Black Dam etc etc.
    
    The Basingstoke Ring road was originally designed to be dual carriage
    with fly-overs, not bl**dy roundabouts - why don't they stop messing
    around and just build the fly-overs - or do the various councils have
    as much confidence in Basingstoke's future as I have ?
    
    Paul

RE .-3

I'm not renowned for being a comedian!  I did say "improvements to *some* 
roundabouts".  The one I really had in mind was the M3 one where it did make 
a difference when they put the left-turn filter lane in.  Thats why I was 
cynical about the fact that they have now removed one of these filter lanes.
I'm well aware that other roundabouts are pretty clogged up in the rush 'n' 
hours.

Mike

    Bye Paul, soooooo sorry to see you go.
    
    Jayne

    
    
    Jayne says the lack of traffic is due to the way you cut people
    up Paul, especially on the Winchester Road roundabout....
    
    Still, bye Paul, and my sympathies are with the poor unsuspecting
    souls in Warrington. By the way, could your noticing the apparent
    demise of Basingstoke be something to do with you leaving? So
    you can say 'yeah, well *I* got out of Basingstoke just before
    it became a ghost town' just to prove what a clever dick you are???
    
    Love.......(bllaaagghhhh) KP
    

  
  Nearly right Karen but I'm not sure about "clever" ... :-)
  

    
    Re .10
    
>>>    By the way, could your noticing the apparent demise of Basingstoke be
>>>    something to do with you leaving? So you can say 'yeah, well *I* got
>>>    out of Basingstoke just before it became a ghost town' just to prove
>>>    what a clever dick you are???
    
    No, I only noticed AFTER I'd accepted a job in Warrington and put my
    house up for sale..........
    
    Paul
    
    PS - Anyone want to buy a house ?
                         

    
    Apparently a flyover is planned for the Black Dam roundabout for 1994
    if we are to believe the planners. There again I can't believe the
    planners let Blasingsmoke come about in the first place.
    
    Gerry.
    
    
    
    

    re .5
    
    what queue's are they then P1...???
    
    the "North Circular" traffic lights work fine in the mornings...