planning permission for new marina on grand union

[two sausages]

I don't know if you have covered this before but Willowbridge marina at Milton Keynes is planning to dig up the field next door to them and build a large new marina. Feel free to put me right, but I just heard about it myself.

[Kwacker]

You seem to have one posting from each sausage

[magnetman]

This has been on the cards for years hasn't it? The one just before MK near Stoke Hammond ?

 

I haven't been up there for about 5 or 6 years but pretty sure they used to talk about expanding it 10 years ago.

 

[Jeanie920]

They got partial planning permission a couple of years ago but nothing happening so far.

[onionbargee]

All of the following post is merely my opinion:

 

The owners of Willowbridge marina have no good will to customers at all, the facilities are filthy, and they deny any liability to their customers safety. Health and safety is non existant in their yard, they seem to beleive the fact its diy work absolves them from any responsibility. Cars parked on live electric cables, and lying in puddles, welding and grinding with no screens, deep potholes where people have to walk, no lighting at night, crane lifting slings left dumpted on the muddy ground, timber and flammable materiels stored under boats, no fire extinguishers ect ect.

The chandlery is hideously expensive solely because they can't be bothered to buy stock at a good price. Its now £60 per week on their hard standing, and they want £10 p/w extra to live on board, the dirty showers, and the washing machines are also pound coin operated. The toilets are a biohazard ! There are 3 water taps for the whole hard standing, and no lighting at night. In the summer its blowing with dust, and in winter is a mud bath. The owners complain if you infringe the hardstanding contract rules, but won't lift a finger to clear the place up, or stick to their responsibilities. Piles of rubish have sat there fot a yeasr untouched. They took away the bins for boat fitting waste, which doesnt help in a diy boatfitting yard. Many people have been harrased by the owners until they leave and vow to never come back.

There's also the fact their website implies they do major structural welding work, but the only person on site who does welding who they reccomend is not qualified, which they dont mention, and they keep him as a contractor so they can deny any liability for his work. The fact he will only work on your job when he feels like it won't help. No insurance covers work done by non competent persons, and this one most definitly is not.

The owners have told residents they will not be spending one penny on anything in the place. which when you see their old crane is worrying, do i trust them to maintain it to a safe standard , no.


Basically I never found anyone who had one good word to say about the place, and I would never reccomend it, the only reason they are still in business is because there's no local competition. The idea of them being able to build and run a large new marina , which is a customer service business is laughable, they don't even like boaters or boating.

Edited November 29, 2014 by Theo

[Keeping Up]

Actually the chandlery is even more of a joke because they don't bother restocking anything when it runs out and almost everything useful has been sold. For the few things they do have left, it's cheaper to drive up to Braunston and use the Swindlers there.

[magnetman]

The owners of Willowbridge marina have no good will to customers at all, the facilities are filthy, and they deny any liability to their customers safety. Health and safety is non existant in their yard, they seem to beleive the fact its diy work absolves them from any responsibility. Cars parked on live electric cables, and lying in puddles, welding and grinding with no screens, deep potholes where people have to walk, no lighting at night, crane lifting slings left dumpted on the muddy ground, timber and flammable materiels stored under boats, no fire extinguishers ect ect.

 

The chandlery is hideously expensive solely because they can't be bothered to buy stock at a good price. Its now £60 per week on their hard standing, and they want £10 p/w extra to live on board, the dirty showers, and the washing machines are also pound coin operated. The toilets are a biohazard ! There are 3 water taps for the whole hard standing, and no lighting at night. In the summer its blowing with dust, and in winter is a mud bath. The owners complain if you infringe the hardstanding contract rules, but won't lift a finger to clear the place up, or stick to their responsibilities. Piles of rubish have sat there fot a yeasr untouched. They took away the bins for boat fitting waste, which doesnt help in a diy boatfitting yard. Many people have been harrased by the owners until they leave and vow to never come back.

 

There's also the fact their website implies they do major structural welding work, but the only person on site who does welding who they reccomend is not qualified, which they dont mention, and they keep him as a contractor so they can deny any liability for his work. The fact he will only work on your job when he feels like it won't help. No insurance covers work done by non competent persons, and this one most definitly is not.

 

The owners have told residents they will not be spending one penny on anything in the place. which when you see their old crane is worrying, do i trust them to maintain it to a safe standard , no.

 

 

Basically I never found anyone who had one good word to say about the place, and I would never reccomend it, the only reason they are still in business is because there's no local competition. The idea of them being able to build and run a large new marina , which is a customer service business is laughable, they don't even like boaters or boating.

Not to keen then.

 

could you be more specific

[tommytelford]

Well that was a glowing report, must have a look as a possibility for my move next year

[Phoenix_V]

The owners of Willowbridge marina have no good will to customers at all, the facilities are filthy, and they deny any liability to their customers safety. Health and safety is non existant in their yard, they seem to beleive the fact its diy work absolves them from any responsibility. Cars parked on live electric cables, and lying in puddles, welding and grinding with no screens, deep potholes where people have to walk, no lighting at night, crane lifting slings left dumpted on the muddy ground, timber and flammable materiels stored under boats, no fire extinguishers ect ect.

 

The chandlery is hideously expensive solely because they can't be bothered to buy stock at a good price. Its now £60 per week on their hard standing, and they want £10 p/w extra to live on board, the dirty showers, and the washing machines are also pound coin operated. The toilets are a biohazard ! There are 3 water taps for the whole hard standing, and no lighting at night. In the summer its blowing with dust, and in winter is a mud bath. The owners complain if you infringe the hardstanding contract rules, but won't lift a finger to clear the place up, or stick to their responsibilities. Piles of rubish have sat there fot a yeasr untouched. They took away the bins for boat fitting waste, which doesnt help in a diy boatfitting yard. Many people have been harrased by the owners until they leave and vow to never come back.

 

There's also the fact their website implies they do major structural welding work, but the only person on site who does welding who they reccomend is not qualified, which they dont mention, and they keep him as a contractor so they can deny any liability for his work. The fact he will only work on your job when he feels like it won't help. No insurance covers work done by non competent persons, and this one most definitly is not.

 

The owners have told residents they will not be spending one penny on anything in the place. which when you see their old crane is worrying, do i trust them to maintain it to a safe standard , no.

 

 

Basically I never found anyone who had one good word to say about the place, and I would never reccomend it, the only reason they are still in business is because there's no local competition. The idea of them being able to build and run a large new marina , which is a customer service business is laughable, they don't even like boaters or boating.

We had work done there 2 years ago I see it hasnt chaged then

[b0atman]

I suppose they are old school marina owners where boats are the cash cow.

The problem being some owners are whingers but there are plenty to replace them.

This is why more marinas need building to make the owners work to attract customers .

I find it refreshing to see how Pillings lock marina are wording their adverts now.

[adam1uk]

I can't help smiling every time we go past, because of the multitude of signs instructing people not to do things. There's hardly a vertical surface without a sign on it. That, and the high diesel price, has never encouraged us to stop there.

[65roses]

Willowbridge are still planning to extend the marina, although I don't believe a date has yet been set, in the above post onion bargee has said they don't like boaters or boating which is absolutely rubbish I believe they have there own boat and have done for a number of years, also I believe there daughter lives on a boat.

 

Also it's a working boat yard with a working crane so u are bound to get pot holes yet there is parking for people who live and work there, people can see the condition before they decide to use the marina.

 

It is a family run business n personally think it's better than another new housing development that was planned to be put in place of the marina. If people don't like the marina don't go there, n if you live there on hard standing and dislike it that much my advice is go back in the water. Or if you are moored there currently go somewhere else instead of whinging about it.

[Phoenix_V]

, n if you live there on hard standing and dislike it that much my advice is go back in the water. Or if you are moored there currently go somewhere else instead of whinging about it.

All true except its a bit of an issue if you are on the hard standing shelling out £££s every week waiting for the welder to fix the holes which he promised to do but week after week finds a reason for not doing so and they tell you bring your own welder in but no one else will work there.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Phoenix_V

[65roses]

Pheonix_V this is not true i am aware that 3 different welders at lest have been working inside the marina this year, unfortunatly each of those welders have then had to have work re done due to issues when boats have gone back in the water, leading to the welder in willowbridge having to fix the work that was previosly done.

[jake_crew]

So that's four incompetent welders then ?

[Galeomma]

The same people own Milton Keynes marina as well.

[MaryP]

Pheonix_V this is not true i am aware that 3 different welders at lest have been working inside the marina this year, unfortunatly each of those welders have then had to have work re done due to issues when boats have gone back in the water, leading to the welder in willowbridge having to fix the work that was previosly done.

I must say, I have known at least 3 boats repaired to a good standard by Onionbargee's "incompetent" welder. One of their family does live on a boat there. At least one of the ladies in the shop (both of which are helpful in my experience) lives on a boat.

 

Also, just a guess as I haven't been around there for a while now, but if it's raining, and there has been a lot recently, it isn't good practice to use electrical welding equipment. Partly as the job isn't as good, but also that the welder would be in danger. Water and electricity don't mix!.

 

It's not a beautiful place. The toilets etc are no worse than some camp sites I've been too (although I can't vouch for the gents!)

[saltysplash]

I used to live there several years ago and unless things have changed dramatically I enjoyed my time there.

small chandlery but they would order in stuff if you where happy to wait, washing machines were fine and always on line, never used the toilets but the elsen was always clean.

 

On the whole as one of their moorers I found them friendly and helpful.

Edited November 26, 2014 by saltysplash

[Alan de Enfield]

This thread just goes to show why it would be impossible to have a "Recommended Boat Yard" 'sticky'.

 

The expectations and experiences of the customers vary to such an extent that any 'comments' are worthless - which do you believe ?

 

"....washing machines were fine and always on line, never used the toilets but the elsen was always clean. On the whole as one of their moorers I found them friendly and helpful".

 

Or :-

 

The owners of Willowbridge marina have no good will to customers at all, the facilities are filthy, and they deny any liability to their customers safety. Health and safety is non existant in their yard, they seem to beleive the fact its diy work absolves them from any responsibility. Cars parked on live electric cables, and lying in puddles, welding and grinding with no screens, deep potholes where people have to walk, no lighting at night, crane lifting slings left dumpted on the muddy ground, timber and flammable materiels stored under boats, no fire extinguishers ect ect.

[GUMPY]

Didn't Willowbridge change owners sometime in the last 10 years?

[onionbargee]

People connected with the place should make it clear in their post.

 

65 roses is just too obvious.

[matty40s]

People connected with the place should make it clear in their post.

 

65 roses is just too obvious.

it was pretty damn obvious to most of us too.

[oneil]

I think a few things need to be made clear following the below persons post.

 

Firstly the person posting, is a resident at the marina, and has been there for several years. During this time, he has been spoken to multiple times regarding breaches of yard regulations, including health and safety breaches, refsual of a directors instruction to remove objects around his boat that could be considered a fire hazzard, inconsiderate behavior, as well as trading in the yard for his own gain which is prohibited. It is a working boatyard, not a home and buisness location.

 

regarding the electric cables over the ground in the yard, everyone can see its a working boat yard. anyone that is caught with cables running over the road is spoken to and asked to remove it. however the owners cannot be around all the time to check every cable every minute of the day. cables obiouslly lie on the ground between meters and boxes.

 

It is a working boatyard and a DIY yard, any contractors that come on site are required to show public liability insurance. one welder was recently stopped from welding in the yard, due to no public liability, and not competent, as proved when that boat went in the water, and started taking on water. The incompetent welder the poster reffers to, repaired the work and the boat is sitting happily on the other side (floating) the yard requires screens to be put up, as is documented in the information sheet provided to customers. anyone found to be welding without screens are spoken to as well.

 

the yard has existed for 30 years with no lighting in the hardstanding area, as above, its not meant to be a home, however as more people are liveaboard when the boat comes out of the water in recent weeks we have been looking at ways to add lighting without dispruting craning locations. this is in conjunction with replacing and repairng light fittings and cables that were inherited with the yard. this is a difficult task, and a long task as having to trace each circut and we have been working on for some time.

 

Potholes are always a problem, however you need to bear in mind there is a 40 ton crane moving several days a week, which makes keeping the potholes in order impossible. HSE have confirmed that they dont expect the yard to be clear of potholes due to the nature of the buisness, however we attempt when possible to use a digger to plane over the top to smooth out the area. since the poster has been in the yard, this has been done 3 times, and almost always within a month they are back to the orgininal state.

 

Regarding the crane slings, they are inspected before each lift for problems, and a crane maintance checklist is completed, and filled in each month. this along with 6 monthly insurance inspections does mean that the crane is fit for purpose, and any accusation to the contary are unfounded and their own opinion. The certificates for the crane are infact displayed in the shop!

 

if you compare the prices to other chandlers, eg midland chandlers, prices are comparabe, yes you can get things cheaper on ebay, but you get everything cheaper online.

 

The prices for hardstanding have not been increased since at least 2008, the prices are the same as the previous owner of the yard charged. bearing in mind costs increase, no price increase for over 6 years? the comment of "its now" implies there has been a recent price increase. which there clearly hasnt been!

 

The welder on site is competent, as an above poster said, they had their boat welded by him. he has done multiple jobs for insurance companys all to a good standerd, if he were not competent, would surveyors down there recomend him? and would the yard let him weld? no is the answer to both questions.

 

The website cleary says it is a DIY boatyard, facilities include can mean either provided, which some we dont provide, or allowed at the yard. if people dont ask the questions and assume... well as the saying goes, assumption is the mother of all f**kups.

 

The yard as the OP says is a DIY yard, it has never provided a boat fit out waste disposal, and has only provided domestic and recylcing. DIY does include your own rubbish removal. and the information provided to customers has stated that for years.

 

I find it curious that "the owners have said they will not spend a single penny on the yard" is said, when new lights went up last week, before the date of OP's post! one of the shower cubicles was repaired a couple of days ago, and a new shower put up 2 months ago, washing machines and tumble dryer is replaced almost as soon as they go wrong. do these actons say no money is being spent? Perhaps you should look around before blatently lying.

 

Also refferal to "harrasement" is quite intresting. it is very comman that people are spoken to for breaches of the rules, and also being phoned for hardstanding payments when they get into large arrers. both of which isnt harrasment, if they wernt breaching the rules, or defaulting on payments, they wouldnt be spoken to. Yes the owners son can be abrubt, but what isnt known is that he is autistic, and has to run the yard during the week. And most people are happy with how he does things, and infact is a stickler for the rules, due to the nature of black and white, no reading between the lines. But also if there is a problem, he trys to sort it out as quickly as possible.

 

There is a local place down in leighton, 5 miles away that offer similar services. i call that competition.

 

Unforutnatlly, the yard has to deal with people like the OP working against the yard. piles of mess he reffers to are mainly around his boat. blocking electric points with push bikes. when attempting to clear them, he says leave it as he wants the wood from them.

 

I think enough has been said. If people wish to speculate that is fine, but until they have been to the yard, or spoken with us directly which we will be happy to answer any questions, there have been changes over the years, some good, and yes some bad. However as the new owners took a loan out to buy the place to save it from deveolpment, and to keep the services the yard had been offering for 30 + years, cashflow is tight. due to loan repayments. it should be appreciated that they risked themselves, their home, etc to keep the facilitys available rather than prevent it from being removed and another working boatyard lost!

 

All of the follwing is merely my opinion:

 

The owners of Willowbridge marina have no good will to customers at all, the facilities are filthy, and they deny any liability to their customers safety. Health and safety is non existant in their yard, they seem to beleive the fact its diy work absolves them from any responsibility. Cars parked on live electric cables, and lying in puddles, welding and grinding with no screens, deep potholes where people have to walk, no lighting at night, crane lifting slings left dumpted on the muddy ground, timber and flammable materiels stored under boats, no fire extinguishers ect ect.

The chandlery is hideously expensive solely because they can't be bothered to buy stock at a good price. Its now £60 per week on their hard standing, and they want £10 p/w extra to live on board, the dirty showers, and the washing machines are also pound coin operated. The toilets are a biohazard ! There are 3 water taps for the whole hard standing, and no lighting at night. In the summer its blowing with dust, and in winter is a mud bath. The owners complain if you infringe the hardstanding contract rules, but won't lift a finger to clear the place up, or stick to their responsibilities. Piles of rubish have sat there fot a yeasr untouched. They took away the bins for boat fitting waste, which doesnt help in a diy boatfitting yard. Many people have been harrased by the owners until they leave and vow to never come back.

There's also the fact their website implies they do major structural welding work, but the only person on site who does welding who they reccomend is not qualified, which they dont mention, and they keep him as a contractor so they can deny any liability for his work. The fact he will only work on your job when he feels like it won't help. No insurance covers work done by non competent persons, and this one most definitly is not.

The owners have told residents they will not be spending one penny on anything in the place. which when you see their old crane is worrying, do i trust them to maintain it to a safe standard , no.


Basically I never found anyone who had one good word to say about the place, and I would never reccomend it, the only reason they are still in business is because there's no local competition. The idea of them being able to build and run a large new marina , which is a customer service business is laughable, they don't even like boaters or boating.

Edited November 29, 2014 by Theo
Remove libellous allegation

[matty40s]

oh, another new poster.........

[oneil]

I have posted to respond to false allegations, and provide more details. to give people the best information possible to make their mind up.

 

I have not hidden where im from.

 

however this topic was regarding a "planning permission for a new marina on the grand union". Any further discussion in this topic is not appropriate, as it is not related to this topic, and the poster that brought up all the points has brought it up in an attempt to discredit, and cause uncertainty by knowingly lying about the facts, and while going off topic is not a breach of the rules of the forums, knowing posting of false information is:

 

This forum is intended to be a family forum, and the language and terms used should reflect this. You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this forum to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, speculative, inaccurate, aimed to deceive, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, inflammatory, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or engage in illegal activities. This includes the use of a inappropriate usernames, or duplicate identities aimed to deliberately deceive. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or you have the permission of the copyright owner.

 

if you wish to "flame willowbridge with inaccurate information" please post with the correct heading to show its speculative, and do it in its own topic, dont hijack another posters with lies and hateful comments