blastLincoln

Explosions 26th-30th May

admin — Sat, 24 May 2008 10:07:52 +0000

More nuisance warnings. On the last two occasions, tests were either carried out underground* or not at all, resulting in no evident nuisance. It doesn’t seem to have occurred to Mr Briggs and his little crew that warnings are acted on - people cancel things and change arrangements to try and maintain a little sanity in their lives. So giving a warning about nothing is itself a nuisance, even without the real nuisance happening. Anyone not terminally anti-social would grasp this…….. ah yes, sorry.

So let’s see if we’re to have our living disrupted this week by actual nuisance or the theoretical possibility of nuisance. Don’t you just love people with consideration and concern for ~~fat cheques~~ other folks’ lives?

[* Mr Briggs has claimed that there is no “underground” testing. Meanwhile, a letter from the MOD says that “95% of the testing is carried out in tunnels”. They also point out that only a small proportion of what goes on at Faldingworth is sub-contracted from them. So much for the “helping our boys”excuse. As we’ve said all along: this is about cash, impure and simple.]

Nuisance Warning 16th April

admin — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:45:17 +0000

Mr Briggs is going to make some more money by creating a nuisance, cracking up people’s houses and stopping them working/sleeping on Thurs 17th and Fri 18th April. You know where to complain [see explosions warning for 2nd April].

~~Skydock~~ Hessle Dock Company now get a whole nuisance warning page to themselves at West Lindsey’s site, on the Environment/Noise nuisance page here.

( http://www.west-lindsey.gov.uk/section.asp?docId=4566 )

More explosions scheduled for Wednesday 2nd April.

admin — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:06:59 +0000

It’s been very quiet, but Mr Briggs is going to change all that. What better way to spend a nice sunny Spring day than making money through other people’s inconvenience?

“In the Spring, a businessman’s fancy
Lightly turns to thoughts of cash”.

You’d better like it. You aren’t going to get the choice…

Those people who aren’t so interested in supporting Mr Briggs’s bank account might care to tell him so. His home address is officially registered as

Nunkeeling Lodge,
High Road,
Elloughton,
Brough,
E Yorks
HU15 1QA

This must be true, because we can’t imagine Mr Briggs making fraudulent address claims anywhere for secrecy reasons.

The so-called “Skydock” is at 01673 863525

All communications decent and legal, please.

Exciting Job Offer at a Nuisance Site Near You

admin — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:53:33 +0000

Bored with just doing ordinary useful jobs? Want to get up the noses of your fellow citizens a bit more?

Well, you’re in luck! Here’s the very thing for you, at an “exciting”, “brand new” testing facility “north of Lincoln” - and guess where that would be? (check out the original ad here).

Here’s the full text:

“Suppliers of cost effective services to the Defence Industry”

An exciting opportunity has arisen to get involved with a brand new Environmental Testing facility. Focusing on energetic materials for the defence industry, we are looking for a dynamic engineer to plan, set up and manage this facility for us.

Faldingworth Defence Ltd is a recently established company based just north of Lincoln. Other services that we provide include proofing and trials, storage, research and development and production of niche products. Our aim is to provide a site with a flexible, one stop shop philosophy.

The person we are looking for will be required to drive this project forward with the full support of the rest of the team and will be given full control of the project. Experience in the energetics industry and report writing will be given preference and previous exposure to the MOD would be a definite benefit although not essential.

Competitive salary offered to the right candidate. Then contact James Young with your CV at defencesoluk@aol.com

So if you want to be part of the problem rather than part of the solution, you know where to go…

We notice that Faldingworth Defence Ltd [21/8/07] is the same company as Defence Solutions Faldingworth Ltd [7/8/07], and Defence Solutions UK Ltd [10/5/07] (well, the email address defencesoluk is a bit of a giveaway, isn’t it? No marks for secrecy there then).

What kind of idiot would start a company in May, and then change the name twice in August? Now lets see, who is notably obsessed with “secrecy” and has a history of rapid and pointless name changes to companies? Who is it that persists in using the name “Skydock” when such a company doesn’t exist? Ah yes, this looks horribly familiar…

All aboard the Nuisance Gravy Train, then. Bring your own CVs.

Noddy Rides Again

admin — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:48:11 +0000

Noddy Rides Again:

[Letter in the Rasen Mail, refuting Mr Briggs’s claims to “scientific” objectivity]:

The Faldingworth explosions man, Mr Briggs, wrote in the Rasen Mail last week. As well as implying our MP is a liar, he made several untrue claims (no you haven’t been turned away from any residents meetings in the last 12 months, Mr Briggs, though you were invited to several, particularly last Thursday in Faldingworth when 150 angry people wanted a word with you). Mostly what he did, though, was tell us yet again how “scientific” he is.

He hasn’t worked out that “science” involves being unbiased, which means you can’t just take your own measurements, particularly when you don’t know what you’re doing. As I’ve pointed out several times recently, Mr Briggs may be a whizz at making things go bang, but his grasp on acoustics and seismology is zero. Mr Briggs will have none of it, however. He quotes a throwaway comment of mine where I suggested that he has the seismological skills of Noddy.

“All I have to do”, he says, “is switch the machine on and read the result. I assume even Noddy could do that.” Why yes, Mr Briggs, that’s exactly what I’d expect Noddy to do, probably with his thumb in his mouth.

Meanwhile, up on the Wolds are some people interested in aftershocks from the earthquake. They are digging elaborate holes and calibrating complex equipment. They don’t just “switch it on and take a reading”. They know what they’re doing. They do not have their thumbs in their mouths.

I’m pleased to see Mr Briggs acknowledge that yes, he does have exactly the scientific skills of Noddy. I’m sure the little blue cap and bell will be very fetching. But it would be nice if he’d remember that he’s messing up our lives with his antics, and this is a rather more grownup matter.

David Humpage

Public Meeting, 28th Feb

admin — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:25:15 +0000

Splendid turn out, well done everyone! A head-count over 150, the overwhelming majority very angry indeed. Mr Briggs invited, but conspicuously absent, his chair+nameplate at the top table empty. Edward Leigh, our MP, took the trouble to turn up again. Duncan Sharkey (Chief Exec, WLDC) was obviously washing his hair that night, but Wayne Lambert and Mick Gent from Environmental Services had the guts to turn up, and took the full barrage. It would have been nice if more invited people (HSE, Planning) had had the backbone to come and face the music but, well, you know…..

Wayne Lambert struggled bravely to keep his end up, but what we can gather is roughly this: WLDC do not know who they’re shooting at (they have no idea who is licensed to do what at Faldingworth, bearing in mind that “Skydock” doesn’t exist) - they don’t know what counts as “acceptable” noise levels - they don’t have anything like enough resources to monitor the situation properly (as some of us have said all along). They are pinning all their faith in a firm of consultants, but admit that they can’t afford to employ this firm for the length of time it would take to overcome Mr Briggs’s known tendency to change the size of bang when he’s being watched.

This may strike you as depressing, but a number of very positive things came out of this meeting. First is the scale and depth of the anger; we always knew Briggs was lying when he tried to make out that all this was the work of a few trouble-makers, but you can’t argue with 150 angry people! (we’re discounting the elves that Briggs sent to report back to him - pity you didn’t have the guts to come along yourself, Mr Briggs!)

Second was the overwhelming support for a Residents Action Group. With the parishes scattered like this, getting information around is very difficult. Though we understand that not everyone is connected to the internet (shamefully - yes you, BT! - Newtoft doesn’t have broadband yet), this site remains the best and quickest way to disseminate news and information. We hope in the next day or two to add the facility to sign up your email address for mailouts. Maybe if you know a concerned neighbour without internet connectivity, you could relay information to them, keep them informed?

Watch this space for developments!

Residents Action Group

admin — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:05:28 +0000

One of the useful things to come out of Thursday’s meeting was the idea of a Residents Action Group. We’ll be working on the set-up for this over the weekend. Watch this space!

A fuller account of this very positive meeting will follow…

New PUBLIC MEETING!

admin — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:16:00 +0000

PUBLIC MEETING, Thurs 28th Feb 8.00pm, Faldingworth village hall.

Come and voice your concerns! Make your opinion felt!

We are promised many councillors and staff from West Lindsey, press, television, possibly our MP Mr Edward Leigh once more.

We need a good turn-out for this one!!!

Skydock?

admin — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:25:36 +0000

We note that people keep talking about “Skydock” as being responsible for these explosions.

We’d just like to point out again that “Skydock” does not exist as a company. According to Companies House, it was dissolved in 2005.

The present nuisance is therefore the work not of a company but of just one man…

The “Open Letter” in the Rasen Mail

admin — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:04:06 +0000

This is the full text of David Humpage’s open letter to Mr Briggs, replying to his “statement” last week:

Dear Mr Briggs,

Last Wednesday in the Rasen Mail you published a statement as to why it’s perfectly OK that the blasts from your Faldingworth test site should annoy and inconvenience hundreds of people. In a nutshell, you told us (the victims) that we couldn’t possibly have a problem, because your test machine says so. You claimed that you had Science on your side, against our mere subjectivity.

Well I have news for you, Mr Briggs: Self-Interest is not Science.

You claim that your little seismograph reported “no readings” one kilometre from the blasts. But as I understand it, Mr Briggs, you hadn’t even read the manual when you placed the machine. What you’ve done is to buy your scientific toy, spend five minutes on the manual, take some “readings” which suit your purpose, and expect us to swallow this like good little obedient children. But nobody becomes an expert in seismology or acoustics overnight, Mr Briggs, and this certainly includes you. Your “science” is no such thing, it is self-serving rubbish. It is an excuse for you to carry on making large amounts of money at the expense of our quality of life.

A measuring instrument is a tool, Mr Briggs, and a tool is only as good as its user. I am bored with being told, by people who can’t use tools, that I “cannot have a problem” because their little toy says so. I should like to suggest a different approach: why not look at what happens to your blasts, not when they leave your site, but when they arrive at our houses?

You could ask yourself: how come that, in a whole lot of solidly-built, well-decorated, ex-RAF houses at Newtoft, large cracks have suddenly appeared in walls and ceilings in the last 2 years? Isn’t it a co-incidence, Mr Briggs, that all these houses should suddenly wear out at the same time?

You could ask yourself: how come that, if these explosions have “always” gone on at this site (as you claim), all the complaints to the council have only happened in the last 2 years? (that is, since you bought the site).

You could even ask yourself: why are all these people saying that you’re preventing them doing their jobs? Why are the hospital shift-workers saying that blasts every 20 minutes are preventing them sleeping? Why is that bloke down at Toft who writes music saying you’re ruining his business because, well, recordings with big bangs in aren’t all that useful?

But you won’t ask yourself any of this, will you Mr Briggs? You’ll just tell us we’re silly trouble-makers, and that you are right and everyone else is wrong: the residents, the council, the media, the MP, the whole shebang. And that you’re just doing your job, charitably helping out “our boys” in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or whichever war you can think of that day (I notice it shifts). And that it’s nothing at all to do with making lots of money, no, not at all.

Self-Interest is not Science, Mr Briggs. Decency is still decency. And people are still people. Do yourself a favour, and notice what you’re doing, before it is noticed for you.

David Humpage