Gateway closed???

[AonP]

Just picked up on a comment in the MPA airbridge fiasco thread (sympathy to all concerned) that the Gateway is currently closed. Does anyone know why this is? Is it closed to all or just pax (I know a while ago half of it was being used as permanent accom for Brize personnel)? If it is closed what's the score F95s all round?

[The Helpful Stacker]

Just picked up on a comment in the MPA airbridge fiasco threat (sympathy to all concerned) that the Gateway is currently closed. Does anyone know why this is? Is it closed to all or just pax (I know a while ago half of it was being used as permanent accom for Brize personnel)? If it is closed what's the score F95s all round?

Word on the grapevine is a mixture of South Cerney and local hotels.

[Lord Elpus]

Asbestos has been found in the Gateway, so most people will be put up in South Cerney, nice!!

[stillin1]

Please please please, bulldoze the place.:D

[threepointonefour]

Please please please, bulldoze the place.:D

What stillin1 said.

But use semtex first. And machine gun the receptionists as they run out of the building.

[enginesuck]

The Gateway is a damn sight better than south cerney, last time i was at SC we were accomodated in a 40 man room with bunks, and woken by some brown job at 0400 for a 1200 flight. It was almost like being in the military.

[Zoom]

enginesuck
That'll be the cheerful brownjob moaning here about the RAF celebrating Christmas in Basra:
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=257342

[JamesA]

Does this mean the end of the biggest hotel in the west of England?????

[TLP-too]

Im sorry but Im pretty sure that finding harmful asbestos in MOD buildings does not make those building uninhabitable. That would be silly. Why dont we just print out 40 million little red stickers with the letter 'A' on them and then stick them to every wall, pillar, column, window sill, etc, that contains asbestos. Then every one knows and wont get harmed by the stuff. In fact, even better we could just stick them to f#ck#ng everything, that way we dont even have to test for the stuff.

Im ready for my promotion now Mr Deville...:ugh:

[Sven Sixtoo]

TLP too
Pedantic engineering git mode ON
You are correct. Asbsetos, in all its forms, is pretty harmless if you leave it alone. One of the great virtues of the stuff as a building material is that is inert in response to most stimuli. It doesn't burn, it doesn't melt, it doesn't dissolve, it doesn't fail in fatigue, it's inedible, it doesn't snap at low temperatures.
Unfortunately the fibres are toxic, and very difficult to contain when the material is being worked. Hence all the claims aginst the manufacturers (who for the most part were ignorant of the risks when they were incurred), and the extraordinary precautions when demolishing buildings containing asbestos. Even these are frequently unneccessary - asbsetos cement, most commonly found as pipes, gutters and roofing sheet, is inert all the way to the landfill site unless you cut the material in removing it. Cut the bolts / brackets and it comes off as it went on - a bit of a pain to do, but the suits and masks routine is actually completely unneccessary. The dangerous bit is usually where asbestos fibre was used raw as insulation. Disturbing the material inevitably shakes loose microsocopic bits of debris that the unprotected will breathe in and possibly years later have horrible lung diseases, which whether they have anything to do with asbestos or not, will make a good case in court (not wishing to deingrate the claims of those actually affected - asbestosis is a horrible way to die and some sort of a relationship between gypsum and death was known in human conciousness long before Turner & Newall became the (at least partly unknowingly) villians of the piece).
Pedantic engineering git mode OFF
Knock the place down asap. Go for a PFI solution involving booking rooms and taxis in the nearest decent hotel.
Sven

[VP8]

I'm with you on that Mike.....

Try to find Hotac in the BZZ area for twenty Ukraines off the 124 is like platting fog :ooh:

VEEPS

[FormerFlake]

As part of the Lyneham closure they are planning to build a new and improved Travel Lodge styled Gateway.

I know when i worked over Xmas at Brize 2 years ago the whole camp closed down for 2 weeks at Xmas. It was terrible considering it is a 24hr stn that was till pretty busy over the period.

[threepointonefour]

CAMPAIGN TO SAVE THE GOATWAY


I've had an idea (although I'll bet that the government already have it in mind :ok: ).


In line with common immigration policy, we could start to use RAF transport aircraft (Tristars as we could squeeze more in) to help 'foreign nationals' (ie former 'enemies' displaced by conflict over the last few years) with their passage to the promised land.


Once here, they could stay in the Goatway (patent pending) while JPA sorts out their entitlements. Priority JPA access would be given to said Goatway guests over Armed Forces personnel so that we could accommodate their needs better.


From the BZN transport hub, smaller RAF aircraft could be used to 'ferry' the new citizens to their chosen area of the UK where a courtesy car will collect them. Once established in their new homes (ex MQs) they could have access to their benefits via JPA at their local camp, thereby easing the burden on the local benefits offices.


Service personnel will still be able to access the JPA system between the hours of 0300 and 0345, on every alternate Wednesday (leap years only). This priority JPA access would be needed by our newest citizens at all RAF stations, as they would have to claim for the toxic poisoning received during their stay in the Goatway.


And then they'd have to claim for the asbestos exposure too.

__
3.14


(ps. No offence intended to relatives of, or sufferers of asbestosis. Neither was any offence intended to foreign nationals who have suffered any kind of hardship. Some offence was intended to the staff of the Gateway who singularly managed to p!$$ me off every time I stayed there. Offence was intended to the idiots who run this place - no names, you know who you are.)

[Grum Peace Odd]

Sven has a point about the PFI. Unlike the case with buying aircraft, getting a deal going with Travelodge could work as it's the sort of thing that PFI was designed for. The base sells the long stay car parks by the wire to Travelodge who promptly build a 600-1000 room hotel on the land, knowing that they can expect regular accommodation requests of XXX pax per night. Travelodge then charges the RAF at a rate lower than the public one on a per room per night basis. Under PFI terms, this income would have to be less than the cost of running the hotel and Travelodge would have to have another revenue stream - renting rooms at going rates to families coming to Brize to greet or wave off their loved ones and to the civilian charter crews. Hell, I'd even make my dragon-in-law stay there over Christmas rather than bunk the kids in together and let the old sow steal one of their rooms! With the distinct possibility of delays, the RAF would frequently want many more rooms than it originally based the sums on, much like the Defence College gets to run extra courses and hold extra Service events, and that would be part of the Travelodge third party revenue stream.

Then use the proceeds of the sale of the carparks and put it towards bulldozing Gateway and turning it in to a multi-story carpark! :ok:

[BEagle]

There is, of course, that minor inconvenience known as Planning Permission.....
In a county where it has taken 25+ years not to build a 1.5 km road, securing planning permission for another Travelodge would seem doubtful.

There are plenty of hotels around here - just very few cheap ones. Still, if the Old Swan at Minster Lovell was good enough for the Taceval team back in the 1980s, it's probably OK for others 20 years later.

Typical single price per night for Bed and Breakfast at a 3 star hotel in Burford is around £85 - but there is, of course, already a Travelodge on the A361/A40 roundabout a mere 4.5 miles from the Covert Oxonian Aerodrome!

[Green Flash]

Any accomodation available at Fairford?