Kingsway Villagers

Nice little start to my afternoon, car hit by a lorry at the junction of Thatcham Avenue/Rudloe Drive.

I had gone through the thinned out part of the road (I don’t know the correct name for it, but is it there for traffic calming?) on Thatcham waiting to turn left onto Rudloe. Had a car in front of me which was also blocked whilst wanting to turn left. A lorry came from Rudloe turning right onto Thatcham, so the car in front and myself edged forward to give more room to the driver of the lorry, then as he passed me the rear of his lorry clipped the rear of my car leaving me with nice scratches and a damaged bumper. Insurance details were swapped and damage inspected (only my car) before we went on our merry way.

Now does anyone else (or is it quite possibly only me) think that the junction on Thatcham and Rudloe is stupid? OK not the actual junction, but the “traffic calming” whatever the correct term is; they are too close together, there is no definition on who gives way from either side, and the one on Rudloe Drive makes turning into Thatcham Avenue difficult if there are a lot of cars about. When driving from Thatcham to Rudloe which I do quite often each day, I always give way to oncoming cars, because I would rather be safe than sorry, not all drivers are like this, some just assume they can go through them. So today in waiting (I was stationary when hit) to let someone else through I got hit!

Just wanted to share in case anyone else thought the same about the road layout as me and if there is a possible way to get it changed!

I was chatting to someone yesterday who mentioned that Asda has got the go ahead to be built on Kingsway but will not be in the location first suggested, and that it will also have a petrol station which again was not in the original plans. Can anyone confirm if this is right? I would have thought that to change the original location, planning would have to be resubmitted, therefore delaying the project.
I did wonder about the petrol station part the other week when reading in the Citizen about a chap doing a charity ride and his fuel was donated by Asda Kingsway, which I thought a bit odd as we haven’t yet got an Asda, so presumed it was a mis-print!

Was anyone else aware that Thatcham Avenue was blocked off (near the old Miller Show Homes) this morning? Because I wasn’t!

I drove into Kingsway from Naas Lane after the school run only to find halfway home I couldn’t get home, and had to turn around and go back along the bypass.

Is it too much to ask for signs to inform residents of Kingsway that resurfacing is taking place on a particular date so that we can avoid that road and save on our fuel?

A couple of weeks ago I was getting the kids ready for the school run, when I noticed a storage space in the car was open and our car manual, which normally resides in the glove compartment was on the floor. I naturally blamed my kids for messing in the car and forgot all about it.

Today my husband asked where our SatNav was and I said it was in the car where (stupidly now) it is always kept. There is no sign of it

It looks like I must have accidently left the car unlocked one night after the school run and someone has come along, tried the door, realised it was open and took the SatNav. I know it has definitely been stolen because if we take the SatNav into the house, the lead and bracket are left in the car, but these have gone too (they were stored seperately from each other in the car as well so whoever took them has had a good root around, before hiding their tracks).

I feel rather stupid now as it was purely my own error, but I just wanted to warn others to make sure their cars or vans etc are locked, and valuables are removed so that no one can take what is not theirs.

Oh and if the person who took my belongings happens to read this, I hope you are proud of yourself for taking advantage of an honest person who made a genuine mistake.

So did anyone attend the consultation layed on by Robert Hitchins and Asda?

We went across this morning for a look and I have to say, the plans don’t look to bad at all. Now I know it is well documented that I support a supermarket in Kingsway, so I asked a lot of questions to the team there, many of those questions were ones that were raised during the last debate about us having a supermarket here.

The design of the building itself looks well thought through and would fit in with the enviroment in which it would be built if planning is given, trees will be planted along the edge of the carpark, these would eventually “hide” the store from those residents who look directly across from it. The building is only going to be a third of the size of the one currently in Gloucester, it is not going to be a huge white blot on the landscape like Tesco’s.

I raised concerns regarding traffic issues and the A38, I was shown expected times of delivery for the store, they explained how it would not be all articulated lorries coming into Asda for deliveries, so noise should be kept to a minimum. Special fences would be erected again to minimise noise, deliveries should not occur during peak times of usage on the A38. If however this was to become an issue then the store would take comments and do their best to change anything that has become a problem for residents. The aim of this store is to be a local store mainly for the use of residents, the expectation of usage from people far and wide is low.

If planning is given then the store would look to be opening by Autumn 2013, thus meaning that Woodvale/Naas Lane road would also be open for residents to use (albeit 2 years after we were promised it would open)!

All in all I was impressed by the team, they listened to our concerns, they took onboard that not everyone would be supportive of the idea, but as of 10.30 this morning, they had received no negativity towards the development.

So have peoples perceptions changed? Those who opposed the idea, did you go and see the plans, do you still feel the same way?

Going back to a comment I made on the other Asda post about Tesco Quedgeley not coping with the amount of people who use their store, last week I went into Tesco on a Saturday afternoon and most of the fresh produce aisles were empty. I left without half of what I was intending on buying. I complained to Tesco’s and was duly sent compensation for my disappointment. For a Tesco Extra store not to be fully stocked over a weekend with potential delivery not until Monday morning is not good, I am not saying Asda would be any better or worse, but the option of choice of location for the weekly shop would be appreciated.

Hello,

I am just wondering if there are any HM Forces Families living here on Kingsway?

I heard a couple of rumours when I first moved here that the MOD had purchased houses on the development to use as Married Quarters.

Where I previously lived had a big support network for the familes. I would like to meet anyone (if the rumours are true) who is in the same or similar position as myself (husband working away either on deployment or during the working week) whilst I’m left at home looking after the children and desperately trying to be a domestic goddess!

Look forward to any replies.