All posts in the topic Seats in Cornmarket (Short link)
Summary
- There are 11 posts — by 7 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Edward J at Sep 16 11:57 UTC
| From | File | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Stephanie Jenkins | seat_in_cornmarket.jpg | Aug 16 06:32 UTC |
The seats in Cornmarket need some attention. The wood looks as though it hasn't been treated since they were put in place four years ago, and some of the seats have stickers that need removing. The seat outside Gap needs repairing: it has lost one of its slats, and is going to lose more if something isn’t done soon. These eight seats deserve to be looked after better: they cost an incredible £30,000 *each*: see http://archive.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/2004/04/02/13156.html
"Seats" - these are not seats, merely something to lean on. Or alternatively they act as foot rests when youngsters sit on top of the installations. A seat would imply something that perhaps contoured with the human body in a sitting position and these perches do not. Could we have some proper seats please? The attached rubbish bins are also not fit for purpose. Gill Garratt Stephanie Jenkins <stephanie.jenkins@gmail.com> wrote: The seats in Cornmarket need some attention. The wood looks as though it hasn't been treated since they were put in place four years ago, and some of the seats have stickers that need removing. The seat outside Gap needs repairing: it has lost one of its slats, and is going to lose more if something isnt done soon. These eight seats deserve to be looked after better: they cost an incredible 30,000 *each*: see http://archive.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/2004/04/02/13156.html Stephanie Jenkins Headington, Oxford Info about Stephanie Jenkins: http://forums.e-democracy.org/contacts/stephaniejenkins This topic's messages may be viewed at: http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/4r2WSZHy1xytjD3PxHj9V5
Although the seats were so wickedly expensive, they are also so ugly and
useless that I would be happy to see them go.
Foreigners look at them in amazement and ask why we have urinals outside.
I have never seen anybody find a way of sitting on them.
They certainly merit the name of "eyesore".
I'm glad if they are falling apart, and I think that they should be
compulsorily installed in the sitting-rooms of the City Councillors who
voted for them. The latter should also have to compensate us tax-payers for
their demented extravagance.
On 18 March I reported on this forum that the seats in Cornmarket needed some wood treatment and general care and attention. Someone said exactly the same in a latter in the Oxford Mail about a week ago. I also reported that the seat towards the north-east outside Gap badly needed repairing. Five months later, nothing has been done, and it is still hanging down on one side. Susannah Pressel discovered that a part was needed: but this part arrived after six weeks. The fact that this _single_ seat cost £30,000 (thirty thousand pounds!) and may well get broken beyond repair obviously doesn't worry the city council, but perhaps if I say that people are still using it even though it is completely unsupported on one side, their extremely acute health-and-safety antennae will pick up the message. And isn't Cornmarket a dump! The removal of the street traders and litter reveals how fundamentally awful its basic structure is. And the work done was designed to last fifty years: see this report from the year 2000: http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2000/11/30/71449.html
Dear Stephanie,
I've forwarded on your complaint about the Cornmarket seats to City Works.
For future reference, if there is particular complaint/maintenance issue to
report please contact the City Council direct.
The CSW Forum is a discussion forum and officers will not necessarily pick up
maintenance issues raised in it.
Regards
Rebecca
Rebecca Carley (Area Co-ordinator)
Tel: 01865 252803 or 07748 932155
Oxford City Council, Town Hall, Blue Boar Street,
Oxford OX1 4EY
I went to photograph the seat yesterday afternoon, but could not get a good picture of the problem because someone was sitting on it! I hope, however, that the picture I am uploading with this message demonstrates how a seat which is barely supported on one side is none the less being used regularly. If you look at the left-hand side, there is a slat completely missing, and the side support has been twisted (presumably by vandals -- I can't see how this would happen naturally) so that most of the remaining slats are just dangling. City Works were contacted about it a long time ago through Susanna Pressel, and the work was supposed to have been done in week beginning 9 April, following the receipt of the necessary spare part. Every time I see a City Works van in Cornmarket, my hopes are raised. (I should add that I don't actually like the seat, but if it is supposed to last fifty years, it will need better maintenance than it is getting.) On a more positive note, I am glad to see in today's Oxford Mail that the three fast-food chains in Cornmarket are going to do more to keep it clean: http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.2426862.0.fast_food_chains_join_clean_sweep.php
The following file was added to this topic:
It shouldn't really be necessary to use FixMyStreet, the City Council have
their own online Report A Fault system, which I've just used to report the
Cornmarket seat.
Let's see what happens.
The repair has been done!
Oh dear, what a shame. I for one would be rather pleased if these peculiar and
hideous seats fell apart. It's the only way we can hope to get rid of them.
Here is an interesting analysis of the benches by Dan Lockton: http://architectures.danlockton.co.uk/2007/03/06/anti-user-seating-in-oxford/