kevinjohnsonmbe

Bend you up like a pretzel princess. 😜

That’s only part of the joke Stubbs..... Whatever is taking so long....? The one for St Just is right at the back! Well, make sure and get a double decker - I may wish to smoke! I’m laughing just typing that (can’t type the accent though!)

Just seen: But as his bessy oppo Jim Davidson properly points out, he died after a strong fight (presumably cancer) with - not of - C19. Media can’t even get simple reporting right.

So it’s the motivation of the activist which defines the level of state abuse they might be subjected to and the degree of righteous outrage that good people might express... Just playing Mark, not one to get wrapped up about.

That's an interesting read Mark. I'm deeply uncomfortable with the whole situation - I'm guessing you are too? Before we get too cozy agreeing on something though.... 😁 Take the closing passage of the article: "....Assange, at tremendous personal cost, warned us. He gave us the truth. The ruling class is crucifying him for this truth. With his crucifixion, the dim lights of our democracy go dark...." If we were to swap out the name Assange for - Mmmmmm, who shall we swap in....? Just for shits and giggles, let's swap out Assange and swap in Robinson. Would you still be outraged? Now I'm not going to suggest that Robinson has been victimised by the state to the same degree and intensity as Assange, it would probably be like comparing premier league and Sunday league, but I want to play "the ball" rather than the man. Do your principles of outrage extend universally or are those that you don't like somehow less deserving of justice?

Not sure my reply uploaded...? It went something like... Prob not a kidney, maybe a spleen or a slack handful of lymph glands. I wasn’t sure what your location (house price index) is? If, for example, Richmond upon Thames or perhaps Polperro (where a single car parking spot can easily cost North of £40k) it might be worth the cost / benefit. Conversely, off street parking in Camborne is not quite so popular because many houses have a obsolescent sofa in the front garden.

The ‘light’ is directly proportional to how much you want / need to find a solution - and most importantly, how much you are willing to invest into it. It really is a cost / benefit analysis. It doesn’t “have” to be a no dig (everything goes in layers on top of what is already there) scenario. To immediately default to that option kind of negates the potential opportunity to improve the rooting environment which would be one of your strongest bargaining chips. Airspade, hand tool excavation around existing roots (if they are even found to be there) back fill with advantageous materiel + suitable sub and top layers. Im not suggesting it is an easy (or cheap) path (to do it properly), what I’m saying is - it IS doable and it IS possible to be a win-win (if you put the resources to it.)

In theory..... I do chuckle every time I pass the constituency MPs office in Liskeard and there is a car parked out front and which can only have got there by driving up the kerb and across the path.

“Rules” are for the guidance of wise men and the blind obedience of fools. This looks like an example of a well intentioned ‘rule’ with the aim of protecting street trees - admirable, but it is being rigidly implemented without really understanding the how and the why. If there is currently a metalled road, a curb, a metalled footway and whatever passes for front garden at the moment, all of that (except the road perhaps) could actually be improved in regard to rooting environment. It’s all doable - at your expense if you can just get past the first tier of administrative barrier. If you can talk to the right people at LA, the key elements to draw out would be improving the current rooting environment. Loads of example / detail here and these guys will help scope you out a solution: Cellweb®TRP - Cellular Confinement System WWW.GEOSYN.CO.UK Cellweb®TRP is the only guaranteed, no dig, cellular confinement system specifically designed and sold for tree...

Interesting that you have referred to an “initial assessment” and an “application” being rejected. Maybe we just need to get the terms ironed out. Is it like a pro-forma or pre-app advice that you have submitted or was it a planning app? Important because a planning app (if valid) ought not to be ‘rejected’ (it might be refused) but only after due process. Now the reason the scenario you present is ‘interesting’ is that it would seem potentially short sighted and counter productive of LA to simply refuse the drop curb aspiration ‘because there are 2 trees there.’ It would not be inconceivable to actually improve the rooting environment for said trees as a consequence of granting a drop curb consent. Early indication seems to be you might have encountered a “computer says no” type and it would be worth going around them.

It’s very trendy, but wholly inappropriate and lazy to run up the “whataboutery” flag rather than accept that there will actually be occasions where whataboutery is actually the very best way of illustrating a point. In the comparison Johnson / Corbyn and/or Tory / Labour the single most compelling reason (probably the only one) for preferring the former over the latter absolutely is look what you could have had. In this example whataboutery absolutely is appropriate....

OK, don’t agree, but fair enough if that’s how you see it.

I didn’t vote ‘for’ him Mark. I had to hold my nose and vote for the local Tory MP purely on the basis that I, incorrectly, perceived the Corbyn / Momentum movement as a credible threat. It’s interesting that you think Labour had nothing to do with “it.” That may well be true but I can’t help but think the absence of a solid criticism of this behaviour by the opposition may be because of a fragility of moral stance. What happens if they come out all guns blazing only to be later exposed as having done similar? That’d be a tadge “awkward” no?

By pass the safety features - absolutely staggering!

That’s interesting- hadn’t seen that before, just had quick look at webpage.

That is a key component of being willing to adjust existing or expected lifestyle to better suit a biomass system which may have very different levels of 'convenience' than those we have become accustomed to. We have a bit of drama every time the in-laws come. There is hot water once per day and when it's gone it's gone - that has something to do with me being tight though since I could make it 24/7 but choose not to. MiL does not likey....

I should have included.... If poss and suitable, maybe consider a secondary circuit either PV or thermal as a 'pump primer' for the Summer months. I've got 2 flat thermal panels (in hindsight I should have gone for tubes) and on a good day in the Summer they provide a full tank of passive heat! Having a third input (elect immersion) also adds redundancy and has got us out of trouble when the burner had a snag. I haven't done it yet, but since the smart meter was fitted it would be interesting to see what the cost comparisons are running elec immersion when solar PV is running hot. System redundancy - well worth a thought.

To answer the question in the title - yes, I did. I had mine installed several years before the commercial RHI tarif was rolled out (which I think was early 2010?) and at a time when all the apparent wisdom was that it was a pipe dream to even expect an RHI tariff. There was a small grant payment available though but, as you say, that was likely swallowed up in the cartel pricing associated with accredited equipment and installer. When we did it, it coincided with a significant house extension and the requirement to replace a +/- 30 year old oil boiler which had (genuinely) broken down on 3 consecutive Christmas eves 🤣 So, whilst a very big consideration was getting off oil, it had to coincide with the removal of a genuinely pooped system rather than pulling a system out ½ way through its anticipated life cycle. So. technically, if the question was would you, then I'd answer yes, because I did. Would I do it again? Probably yes and possibly regardless of any grant incentive - for the reasons you allude to. If fuel source is ready and available, if the existing system is pooped (or there isn't one) and if the life style is suitable to cope with a biomass system - then yes I would do it again - regardless of RHI. Getting off oil, replacing a obsolescent system and - perhaps most important - being able / willing to adjust lifestyle to accommodate biomass would be my 3 main check items...

I think there is a fine line which (probably) provides a divide between owner operator and hire-in users. I believe this on the basis that owner operator is a whole lot more ‘invested’ in training & safe use and proper inspection & maintenance than a hire in user might be. It’s just a ‘feeling’, unsubstantiated by data / stats but there you are. The biggest concern remains the apparent desire to drive the industry away from climbing and towards MEWP whilst not really acknowledging that the single weakest link is the user...

Have you got access to BS library? Sounds like you might have access to an academic library with a research subscription - if not, would be well worth buying (or acquiring) your own copies of 8545, 3998 & 5837. Make yourself known to local planning agents / architects and see if you can pick up some leads from them for 5837 jobs. Post grad already (albeit in another field) with aspirations for Masters in Arb (but no practical experience) - sounds perfect for a local authority job role....

I can almost hear the self employed dress makers and book keepers whooping and a hollerin.....

Only money does - or so it seems. Wouldn’t be that way after the uprising 😂

Or whack an extra £25k on the quote to allow for resurfacing. If it doesn’t need it have a nice bonus.