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Pioneer Concrete.

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Pioneer Concrete
Pioneer Concrete
Photo: . Ozy .
Views: 2,373
Item #: 33597
This photograph, taken in the brew cabin of the former Pioneer concrete plant, Queen St in 1991, depicts Sandra Cullen, an owner operator at the plant for in excess of 30 years.

Sandra will be retiring on March 25th this year ...just one amongst possibly hundreds, if not thousands of casualties of this government's and Andy Burnham's ill conceived proposed 493 square mile GM clean air zone.

The wake will take place at the Moon under Water.

Sandra had just three choices open to her.
She could either face a punitive charge of £60 per day to continue operating her 2013 registered truck, shell out something in the region of 140 grand to replace it with a new Euro 6 compliant truck, or sack the job entirely.

She very wisely, in my view chose the latter option...

...Nice work Andy...end of an era as the saying goes.

Comment by: Fresh air. on 17th March 2022 at 18:01

The IS the point, to get old vehicles OFF our roads.
Sad yes but has to be done if we all want cleaner air.

Comment by: James Hanson on 17th March 2022 at 19:42

A Euro 6 compliant mixer truck can be obtained for under £60k. A brand new one would be £140k, like you say. There's ways and means to keep going. She must be sick and fed up.

Comment by: . Ozy . on 17th March 2022 at 20:56

I'd like to make it clear that I don't have a problem with clean air per se.

In fact, the more clean air the better. It's just that you can't actually eat the stuff, and as far as I'm aware, very few places are willing to accept clean air in exchange for goods and services.

Furthermore, in contradiction to what a number of would be, minor, ambitious politicians appear to believe, you just can't punch £100,000+ out of the side-stones.

The point I'm trying to make here is that it's unrealistic to introduce draconian measures overnight such as the ones that are being mooted.

These changes will occur naturally over a number of years, given the chance. ( do you recall the clean air act of the 60s and the difference that that made?). But it didn't happen just like switching the lights off.

The same thing will happen eventually on our roads hopefully, but it would be naïve to expect it to happen by 2024.

And whilst on the topic of noxious vehicle emissions, how many tons of crap do you suppose have been pumped into the atmosphere in the vicinity of Wallgate in what must be close on 12 months that traffic has been queueing in single file all the way from the Saddle junction down to Queen St?.

And all for what I continually ask myself.

Greater Manchester will achieve its CAZ eventually no doubt, but in the meantime, don't bother ringing Sandra if you're in need of concrete.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg if this crackpot scheme in its current format gets the green light.

All the best folks. No disrespect intended to anyone.

Ozy.

Comment by: Andrew on 17th March 2022 at 21:53

Ozy, many share your frustration regarding the rollout of ‘Clean Air’ in Greater Manchester. However, the government, not the GM Mayor, are responsible for that legislation. Burnham is simply charged with carrying out the law, not with writing it - he is a convenient scapegoat when finding someone to blame. Heck, Boris Johnson used the same tactic at the dispatch box last week, taking time to blame Burnham for carrying out legislation that Johnson pushed through parliament!

Comment by: . Ozy . on 18th March 2022 at 00:25

Forgive me Andrew, but irrespective of the fact that my trust in Boris Johnson's capabilities fall somewhere midway between minimal and non-existent, I find it difficult to accept that even that bumbling tousle haired buffoon could be responsible for coercing every one of the ten boroughs that comprise the Greater Manchester area into agreeing that implementing a 495 square mile clean air zone could be achievable within the space of eighteen months without instigating a certain degree of revolutionary agitation amongst the plebian populace.

By plebian populace I refer to those people that actually get out of bed every morning to do a day's work in order to support themselves and their families.

Also, and in fairness to Burnham, I'm inclined to say that culpability for idiocy of this magnitude surely cannot be laid at his doorstep alone.

The council leaders of all ten boroughs must surely have played their part in this farcical drama.

But at the day's end the question still remains.

Who, as the mayor of greater Manchester, and the labour party's representative in the northwest,.who is the man supporting?

Would it perchance be the working class,....or would it be, as appears to be the case in many labour controlled areas,...Wigan in particular,...the no bloody intention of working class?

I hope you'll forgive me for putting my thoughts into words, but in my defence, I feel obliged to state that in common with many other people of a similar age to myself, I was raised in a world that took a certain pride in being independent and a world that generally shunned handouts.

Whereas nowadays, it would appear to be a mandatory requirement to pay ludicrous amounts of money in order to be able to earn a living, as opposed to the apparently increasingly popular alternative of inhaling or injecting questionable substances and living off the state.

This world is ******* barking....that's a fact ...and the conclusion that I arrived at many years ago.

I have to go to bed now.

Regards. Ozy.

Comment by: Veronica on 18th March 2022 at 09:56

Very sad circumstances. People's livelihoods eroded bit by bit. Yet nuclear stations exist and it only takes one madman to press a button and the whole world would explode.

Comment by: Veronica on 18th March 2022 at 10:00

Apologies that I can't do justice in my reply to Ozy as my iPad freezes if I type more than a few words/ not that i know much...

Comment by: Helen of Troy on 18th March 2022 at 10:12

I think Ozy has laid it out plainly enough....these things cannot be achieved over night however good the intentions.
And dont get me on electric cars, have you see film footage of the vast, deep scars that are being gouged out of the earth in Africa so we can have nice clean air....doesnt look the least ' enviromently friendly ' to me.....and lastly these wonderful cars run on electricity which has to be made somehow., they dont run on air. Thats me said my piece.

Comment by: James Hanson on 18th March 2022 at 10:30

Ozy, you come across as yet another person who doesn't understand the concept of "local government" and the difference between 'council' and 'councillors'.

Comment by: Electric trains. on 18th March 2022 at 15:59

We should put heavy freight back on our railways and get HGVs off our roads. No ifs no buts.

Comment by: Mick on 18th March 2022 at 17:17

We should put heavy freight back on our railways and get HGVs off our roads. No ifs no buts.

Yes this is the plan thats why we are building HS2 and there is nothing wrong with Boris.

Comment by: George (Hindley) on 18th March 2022 at 17:54

Helen of Troy, electricity can be generated by wind turbines and solar panels so, yes, they do run on air, and sunlight.

Comment by: Dave on 18th March 2022 at 18:32

James , you seem to have the same mind set as Mick who will have huge shock when he moves to London . Things move James , in other places , they don’t stand still . Your post speaks volumes about you . You are looking for mistakes in everybody else but not you ?

Comment by: James Hanson on 18th March 2022 at 22:24

Sorry, Dave, but I can't get my head round your post. "Things move"? "in other places"? "they don’t stand still"? What?
My comment reflected on Ozy's ideas on councillors and council with his typical reference to "Labour controlled areas" and "council leaders of all ten boroughs".
He clearly doesn't realise that 'Labour', the political party, doesn't enter into the matters in question.
'Labour' does not run the UK. Labour does not 'control' anywhere within the UK. Council Leaders do not 'lead' any councils.

Comment by: Helen of Troy on 19th March 2022 at 07:32

George, I know only to well that electricity can be made by wind turbines & solar farms. I live on the coast of Norfolk & we have our fair share of of both. From the sea front we can see with the naked eye 3 sets of wind turbines & more are planned, I dont see any problem with that but that power has to come ashore & you should speak to people whose lives & homes are disrupted by the pathway of of it coming ashore....it doesnt move by magic or air....

Comment by: Keith Beckett on 19th March 2022 at 09:58

A different approach to the GM clean air zone would have local measures in the Wigan area and a much smaller GM area. The GM air pollution map,

https://mappinggm.org.uk/clean-air-plan/#os_maps_light/10/53.5069/-2.3201

Comment by: Rev David Long on 19th March 2022 at 19:34

I'm not sure how much it would have helped - presumably vehicles criss-crossing the charge zones would have been subject to the charge at each crossing. So, cross three zones on your journey - pay the charge 3 times - rather than just once for operating within the all-GM zone.... I expect that might have been put to the Councils from the outer zones.

Comment by: . Ozy . on 19th March 2022 at 19:44

I just thought I'd risk saying this one last time.

I am not anti CAZ.

It's just the nature of the chosen approach to achieve this elusive CAZ , that's the problem that I have.

It's obvious that a massive bo**ock has been dropped, but no one appears to be prepared to hold up their hands and accept responsibility for the cock up.

Burnham' s blaming Johnson, Johnson's blaming Burnham, so they are both obviously aware that the plan is flawed.

Anyway, I understand it's under review until July, so we'll just have to wait for the rabbit to emerge from its hole.

Meanwhile, the owner of a long established building firm based in Pemberton with whom I converse on odd occasions, and who operates six non compliant vehicles has decided to scrap those vehicles, throw in the towel and call it a day.
So you see, the plan is already working.

And I feel confident that you'll readily understand that the outcome of this review will now hold very little interest for him,... it's too late,...like Sandra, he's made up his mind...And how many more small companies both within and without the GM area share his point of view.
As I stated previously, it's just the tip of the iceberg.

So you can have your clean air zone, I don't really care one way or the other as I go most places on my pushbike anyway, but don't allow yourselves to be convinced otherwise,... ..if, or more likely when it is implemented, it will arrive with a hefty price tag attached.

Oh! and just one more thing whilst on the topic of clean air. That infamous section of Wallgate between the Saddle junction and Queen St. was gridlocked and down to one lane again today, whilst the only visible activity taking place being the impatient drumming of fingers on steering wheels and faint clouds of blue exhaust smoke rising up into the otherwise clean air.

Now, it's been pointed out to me that I know buggerall about how councils operate, and I wouldnt be prepared to argue that point, but I will say this much about Wigan council.

If, let's say, I owned a chip shop in Wigan, which I don't incidentally, but let's just for a moment pretend that I did.

Well in that situation I would be extremely reluctant to allow anyone even remotely connected with Wigan council to run it on my behalf, as I remain convinced that it probably took less time to build the pyramids than its taken to construct a bloody cycle lane along Wallgate.

So no offence intended to anyone ( with the possible exception of whoever came up with this deluded cycle lane plan , especially given that there already exists a perfectly acceptable cycle lane along Pottery road, or Southgate, or whatever the damn' road's called these days).

Regards. Ozy.

Comment by: James Hanson on 19th March 2022 at 21:30

The plan was, Clean Air Zones from the East Coast, between Grimsby and Hull, across the country to the West Coast, between Wirral and Preston.
This would make it impossible for anybody to travel north to south, or vice versa, in a none E6 compliant vehicle, without paying a daily fee.

Quite a money-spinner, eh.?

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