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Will Travelcard Zone 6 ever expand to include Dartford stattion?
Martin Underwood wrote:
Mind you, county / unitary authority boundaries seem to be perverse as well: in what used to be called Berkshire (and which most people, unitary authority notwithstanding, still *do* call Berkshire!) there's a boundary that runs through the middle of Reading such that Tilehurst (really a suburb of Reading) is part of the UA of West Berkshire (administered in Newbury) whereas the most of the rest of the conurbation of Reading is part of the UA of Reading. You'd think that common sense would route the boundary in the un-built-up area outside Reading - and would keep moving that boundary as Reading expands so that the whole of the conurbation (as it exists at any time) is always administered from the same place. Unfortunately, common sense got defeated by politics. Labour in Reading were worried that widening their boundaries might cause them to lose control of the council, and the majority parties outside Reading were worried that one or more of their boroughs might disappear if Reading was enlarged. The result is that the 19th century boundaries are still in place! Berkshire still exists by the way. It has a Fire and Rescue Service for example. -- Richard J. (to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address) |
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Will Travelcard Zone 6 ever expand to include Dartford station?
"Richard J." wrote in message
... Martin Underwood wrote: Mind you, county / unitary authority boundaries seem to be perverse as well: in what used to be called Berkshire (and which most people, unitary authority notwithstanding, still *do* call Berkshire!) there's a boundary that runs through the middle of Reading such that Tilehurst (really a suburb of Reading) is part of the UA of West Berkshire (administered in Newbury) whereas the most of the rest of the conurbation of Reading is part of the UA of Reading. You'd think that common sense would route the boundary in the un-built-up area outside Reading - and would keep moving that boundary as Reading expands so that the whole of the conurbation (as it exists at any time) is always administered from the same place. Unfortunately, common sense got defeated by politics. Labour in Reading were worried that widening their boundaries might cause them to lose control of the council, and the majority parties outside Reading were worried that one or more of their boroughs might disappear if Reading was enlarged. The result is that the 19th century boundaries are still in place! Berkshire still exists by the way. It has a Fire and Rescue Service for example. I know Berkshire still exists: even the road signs on the A34 going south from Oxford to Newbury say something like "Welcome to the Royal County of Berkshire / West Berkshire". In common parlance, "Berkshire" is the name that refers to the area of land bounded by Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey etc - which is currently sub-divided into artificial Unitary Authorities called West Berkshire, Reading, Bracknell Forest, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham. Ask a resident which county they live in and they'll say "Berkshire" not "Windsor and Maidenhead" or "Bracknell Forest". According to Simon Gardner who regularly posts in uk.local.thames-valley, the strictly correct, hair-splitting answer to the question would be "I don't" - because Bracknell Forest etc aren't even counties - they are Unitary Authorities. As a former resident of Berkshire, I can assure you that I didn't vote for the change of status - for the simple reason that I (like all the other residents) wasn't consulted about it. Isn't democracy wonderful? The change led to all sorts of absurd situations. For example, if you borrowed a library book at Bracknell library, you weren't able to return it to Wokingham or Reading library as you had been able to do in the past. If I'd had to call an ambulance, I'd have been taken to Wexham Park Hospital on the far side of Slough rather than to the much closer and more accessible Royal Berks Hospital. |
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