Pontins Investing £50m (the future of Camber & Southport)

[ducasi]

Don't know if this has been posted elsewhere, but I was recently looking at the web site for the developments that are going to happen at Pontin's in Southport.

Here's the web site... http://www.oceanvillage-ainsdale.co.uk/

Here's a PDf leaflet... http://www.oceanvillage-ainsdale.co....ale-on-Sea.pdf

And here are a couple of interesting quotes from the first set of minutes of the "Community Liason Group"... http://www.oceanvillage-ainsdale.co....10%20final.pdf

On what the new development will host...

f. CH asked if there would be no events or just different events in the new Ocean Village.

g. CO said events on site would be unlikely but Ocean Village may support external events, for example on the beach or on nearby golf courses. However, there will be no large events centre as is the case now.

g. DH stated that the main issue with noise for him was the “Weekender” events, without these he doubted noise would be an issue in the future.

On timing...

f. CO stated that it was Ocean Parc’s current intention to submit planning application this year and that at the current time, the application is due to be a full detailed planning application.

aq. CO said that the build timescales would last around 5 years, dependant on the market.

ar. TD asked if we would use a phased approach to construction?

as. CO replied that we could possibly launch at 40-50% of the site around 18 months after starting construction.

at. RA observed that 6 months for the planning process was generous where you building in time for call-ins etc.

au. CO stated that because of the special status of the site that the application will be referred to the Secretary of State.

So it seems to me that if they manage to get their full planning application in later this year, and it goes through in about 6 months, the existing Pontin's in Southport could be due for demolition as early as Spring 2011, or as late as Autumn 2011.

I haven't looked into what's happening down at Camber, but I'd guess it'd be similar.

[DavidY]

g. DH stated that the main issue with noise for him was the “Weekender” events, without these he doubted noise would be an issue in the future.

I don't think DH necessarily means us. I think these might be the "Southport Weekenders" being referred to: http://www.southportweekender.co.uk/venue.php

[ducasi]

I don't think DH necessarily means us. I think these might be the "Southport Weekenders" being referred to: http://www.southportweekender.co.uk/venue.php

Maybe, maybe not. Either way, there's not going to be a venue for either the "Southport Weekender" or us to make noise in.

[DavidY]

Maybe, maybe not. Either way, there's not going to be a venue for either the "Southport Weekender" or us to make noise in.

It doesn't look good...

[Dottie]

It doesn't look good...

Ah. I wondered why there were no details for Blush on the Escape website.

[gamebird]

"up to a point" indeed. If I were Mr Pontin and I was rebuilding Southport, I'd build a big room suitable for dancing, and a big auditorium for concerts and shows. I'd hope though, if they do go the auditorium route, it has a seating system that can stack away to the sides, like in the Bonar Hall in Dundee.

But hopefully with some kind of (enviro-friendly?) air con / cooling system

[Rocky]

But hopefully with some kind of (enviro-friendly?) air con / cooling system

I honestly don't think there is a cooling system in the known universe that can cope with the heat generated from a 1,000 bodies in constant motion at around 130 BPM..

[rtwwpad]

There is, its called Mother nature in the winter months. Just make the walls sliding glass doors on all 4 sides. Voila. Of course you're still screwed come Scorch

[gamebird]

I honestly don't think there is a cooling system in the known universe that can cope with the heat generated from a 1,000 bodies in constant motion at around 130 BPM..

That's ok, I'm mainly in the blues room

[Andy McGregor]

I honestly don't think there is a cooling system in the known universe that can cope with the heat generated from a 1,000 bodies in constant motion at around 130 BPM..

I'm sure there is such a system that you could have fitted without resorting to travelling the universe - you'd just need a lot of powerful units. However, it might not be cost-effective for a holiday camp.

[rtwwpad]

Right, so lets assume that an average person dancing in an hour generates 250W of output. Multiply by 1000 dancers gives us 250,000W. Then we need to convert that to BTU which means multiplying by 3.41, which gives us 852,500 btu/hr.

Then you need to calculate the standard room size and the value of Btu for that and add it to the human factor. So assume the dance hall is 150 foot long by 120 foot wide by 40 foot high giving us 720,000 cubic foot. With a standard multiple of 5 giving us a grand total of 3,600,000 btu/hr plus the human effort which equals 4,452,500 btu/hour.

My figures might be off, I have had my one drink for this year today.

[Phil_dB]

Right, so lets assume that an average person dancing in an hour generates 250W of output. Multiply by 1000 dancers gives us 250,000W. Then we need to convert that to BTU which means multiplying by 3.41, which gives us 852,500 btu/hr.

Then you need to calculate the standard room size and the value of Btu for that and add it to the human factor. So assume the dance hall is 150 foot long by 120 foot wide by 40 foot high giving us 720,000 cubic foot. With a standard multiple of 5 giving us a grand total of 3,600,000 btu/hr plus the human effort which equals 4,452,500 btu/hour.

My figures might be off, I have had my one drink for this year today.

I bet you're great fun at parties

[David Franklin]

I'm sure there is such a system that you could have fitted without resorting to travelling the universe - you'd just need a lot of powerful units. However, it might not be cost-effective for a holiday camp.

In the Computer Graphics industry, probably the biggest conference is Siggraph; when I stopped going, my understanding is that there were basically only 4 conference centers in the US big enough to host it. With 30k+ people (and a lot of computer equipment), it tends to get hot.

So it was a somewhat weird experience the year it went to Florida. It was blazingly hot outside, and inside the conference center, it was so cold you really wanted a jumper.

To add to the "this ain't usual" vibe, the Florida convention center is so big that it actually had another convention at the same time. And the other convention was a Fitness expo. So at 9am when all the booth staff were entering the convention, you'd have one queue of computer geeks, typically dressed in either suit or 'geek casual', and another queue of women in bikinis.

Anyhow, it proves the air-conditioning problem is solvable, given sufficient resources.

[cederic]

Right, so lets assume that an average person dancing in an hour generates 250W of output. Multiply by 1000 dancers gives us 250,000W. Then we need to convert that to BTU which means multiplying by 3.41, which gives us 852,500 btu/hr.

Then you need to calculate the standard room size and the value of Btu for that and add it to the human factor. So assume the dance hall is 150 foot long by 120 foot wide by 40 foot high giving us 720,000 cubic foot. With a standard multiple of 5 giving us a grand total of 3,600,000 btu/hr plus the human effort which equals 4,452,500 btu/hour.

My figures might be off, I have had my one drink for this year today.

The 250W per person feels about right, but would that all be converted to heat. A lot of it is translated into kinetic energy, and although some of that'll be turned (via friction) into heat the total heating effect will be rather less.

Don't discount the heat used to evaporate moisture either - 1000 people sweating at the same time needs a lot of energy.

We haven't even considered whether people are wearing shoes that turn motion into electric energy to recharge their mobile...

[DavidY]

The 250W per person feels about right, but would that all be converted to heat. A lot of it is translated into kinetic energy, and although some of that'll be turned (via friction) into heat the total heating effect will be rather less.

On a dancefloor (for MJ at least) any kinetic energy is only there very briefly because you aren't constantly moving in the same direction (or spinning round the same axis continually).

MJ is so stop-start that kinetic energy is gone very quickly - and obviously at the end of every track when everyone pretty much stops moving there's hardly any in the whole room.

[djtrev]

That reminds me wasn't there a thread called

WHAT KILLED THE CEROC SCOTLAND FORUM

[frodo]

Don't discount the heat used to evaporate moisture either - 1000 people sweating at the same time needs a lot of energy.

Definately can be a lot of energy, if to a degree dependent on an acceptable level of discomfort.

But swapping out humid air for less humid air may not be much easier than swapping out high temperature air for low temperature air.

[NickC]

Apparently Al-Qaida were disscovered attempting to place a huge bomb on Camber, if it had gone off, it could have coursed hundreds of thousands of pounds of improvements

[Geordieed]

My question is what is going to happen to all the white cotton tailed bunny rabbits?

[NickC]

I can particularly recommend the rabbit stew in the restaurant at Camber