Sunday 4 July 2010

More on open soon

The photo shows the work being done on the new walk ways. Soon we will all be able to get up there and take photos by the gigobyte of the Bay.
 
Below is a recent item in the local paper, The Herald Express, about the opening which is due on July 30 which is a Friday so I wiil probably be working.
 

A DATE has been set for the public opening of Torquay's £3million Rock Walk facelift.

On July 30 the wraps will finally be taken off the controversial scheme to turn the run-down, overgrown but much-loved gardens into the town's newest tourist attraction.

An official opening is planned for the autumn.

Deputy mayor Chris Lewis said the road system would stay as it is this summer.

Parking would be created on the cliff side lane, currently closed off, and the traffic will continue to use the seaside lane.

It had been planned to swap them over.

Cllr Lewis said: "We want to see what is proposed for Princess Gardens and we don't yet know what is happening at the Palm Court Hotel."

Plans to redevelop the Palm Court failed when the development company went into administration earlier this year.

The council has asked the proposed developer of the Pavilion, and buildings along the promenade, to present details to it next month following a public meeting.

Parts of Rock Walk have been closed since 2005 and the reopening has been delayed because of an extra £550,000 piling operation to secure upper pathways in the £3million overhaul.

At the cabinet meeting this week, mayor Nick Bye agreed to set aside £550,000 from its VAT 'windfall' following a successful tax refund appeal, to meet the unplanned extra costs of the project.

Cllr Lewis said they had saved some money on the project until surveys found extra piling was needed for the new pathways and supports because of the ground conditions.

They had kept to within the original £3million budget.

"We didn't want to cut back on the lighting and artwork which is what will make Rock Walk a special experience," he said.

"If we had cut that spending now we would never have finished it, which would have been criminal."

Pathways and a viewing platform have been created up the rock face which will be lit. Art works are also being created.

At night the multi-coloured night-time illuminations will be visible from across Tor Bay.

Parking meters will be installed on the cliff-side lane and it is hoped to create a new coach stop for the theatre.

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Notes about the blog. Updated 08 March 2008

Not much is happening at Rock Work now. All the work clearing the trees has been done. A barrier has been erected to prevent rock falls from reaching the road. Now we wait for the geological survey in May to see what can be done to fix the rocks in place.
After that when work starts again later in the year I will post more photos.
Any news items I come across I will post as they appear in the local paper.

Or you can work through the whole blog to find more detail.

If you left click on a photo you get a larger image.

Each day has the label "Day", click on it and you will miss out the other posts.

Articles from the Herald Express are labelled Herald Express.

And so on.

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