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6 Comments
Posted By: James Hogg On: 28 May 2008 At: 10:59pm
I am not a black bitch as my mother wimped out and i was born in Bangour 
My Grandmother on my father’s side was a Snedden from Grangepans and my Grandfather from my Mothers side came from Bo’ness. Now why would the harbour attract visitors? Port Edgar doesn’t and we don’t really have the climate in this country to pull of the meditarian marina thing. I just can’t see it being a visitor attraction and if it does what is not to say it has the same affect as the steam railway i.e. the visitors don’t stop in Bo’ness? Bo’ness needs sustainable development. To quote Adam Smith “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.” To expect ING to be doing this for altruistic ideal is poppy cock, but that does not mean that we cannot force them through means to benefit the whole community.
Posted By: Rae On: 28 May 2008 At: 9:58pm
As a Bo’nessian I’m a bit sad about it :( I was looking forward to the harbour area being regenerated. I think it’d be good for Bo’ness. I’m a bit skeptical about ING’s plans and would worry that they wouldn’t put the money back into regenerating the harbour, that they are just out to make a profit instead of putting some money back into the community. They should stick to the contractual agreement. I like Bo’ness and it’s a beautiful area and the harbour regeneration would enhance that. People before profit!! Pray that ING and other big conglomerates will be touched and give money to help communities throughout the world, especially the developing world.
Posted By: Vikki On: 28 May 2008 At: 9:25pm
Gosh James you’d never have guessed you’re a black bitch! 
And yes I am personally upset and I’m an incomer! Anyhoo I agree with you about why Bo’ness does not get passing trade unlike Linlithgow however, the whole point of developing the Harbour would entice people to Bo’ness to visit the harbour and the cafe’s, shops etc etc. I don’t think the people buying the houses will shop in the town anymore than anyone else who lives here at present and as you state will probably become dormitories for commuters. So ?? if we should back ING or not. I definitely agree with Douglas that we cannot afford not to pray.
Posted By: James Hogg On: 28 May 2008 At: 8:37pm
I cannot really see the point in getting upset about the harbour. Like the hippodrome I could not seeing it supporting it self and it just becoming a mill stone around the neck of the local tax payers. The houses on the other hand are of a type the will likely be lived in by net contributors in terms of local taxes to amenities used and therefore a good thing. One of the major problems of Bo’ness town center is that it is not really in the center of the the town, you are not forced to go through it unlike Linlithgow high street. So the shop owners miss out on a lot of passing trade. Since the house will be close to the town center hopefully the people buying them will use the local shops and increase passing trade for the owners. As this happens hopefully more shops will be sustained giving other people a reason to visit the town center rather than do there shopping in Linlithgow, Falkirk, Edinburgh, Stirling etc. I think the issues then Bo’ness face is firstly that the council are not willing to put there money into the harbour in any major way, in my opnion quite rightly so, and so if they want the harbour redeveloped how do they go about it? The only game in town is ING, so do we tell them to get lost because we do not trust them and therefore not get the harbour development, or do we take the risk that they will probably not do it but end up with houses, which I think will be beneficial to Bo’ness? That is not to say that these house will not present problem, like how does the community integrate these people and stop them effectively just becoming dormitories for commuters, but i am sure the the community of Bo’ness is more than up to the task.
Posted By: Douglas Lochhead On: 28 May 2008 At: 7:12am
I agree, prayer is so vitally important. We are so busy that we can not afford not to pray.
Posted By: Helmut On: 30 May 2008 At: 9:51am
Sadly I have not been to Bo’ness for a long time now, my links being the SRPS, St.Andrews, the Museum of Communication (moved to Burntisland), and the Bo’ness website. But I can see that the Harbour is still stuck in mud (toxic at that, they told me ages ago), and that still the very same town centre houses are blocked up.
The least thing, perhaps get the houses boarded up with new clean panels and set loose the spray can. And harbourwise, a friend once suggested to get the Territorial Army in.
Knowing Bo’ness I love it, but I can well undestand that the occasional traveller would not.
You got the Hippodrome working and things are moving at Kinneil, I understand, so perhaps it is not going to take another twenty years?
Impressive as the ING plans looked, and just imagine a steam railway right in the midst…, it looked a bit overenthusiastic
to begin with.