The Rape of Bedford Square

March to April 1999


The diggers moved in at the beginning of March 1999

Digger These pictures were taken on Monday, 15 March 1999, following a meeting of the West Devon Partnership Committee, which was scheduled to approve the Traffic Orders which are needed to make this work legal. In the event, the committee was unable to confirm the draft orders, because the procedures had not been handled correctly, and consideration has been deferred to a future meeting.
Some people may think it odd that work has been started before the necessary Traffic Orders have been confirmed. So do I; but this appears to be typical of the cavalier attitude being taken to the public's representations about their town.

The next two images illustrate the full horror of the "enhancement" works that are defacing our square:
The Square as it was before ...
... and as it is today
Here is the chaos today - a quiet Monday in March. Imagine what it will be like on a busy Summer weekend!
Painting by numbers (join the dots?) - the hi-tech solution to redundant road paint ...
Presumably, the little circle shows us where the new dot will be.


By 15 April 1998, this was the scene from a balcony overlooking the square: