What we heard at the open houses

We held four open houses this autumn, in church halls and one very cold community room, and roughly two hundred people came through.

Thank you to everyone who did, and particularly to the people who came to tell us they thought this was a bad idea. Those were the useful evenings.

Three questions came up at every session.

Where exactly would the towers go? This was the first question at all four, and our answer was not good enough. We had alignment drawings but no visual simulations, so people were being asked to picture something from a plan view. We have since had simulations prepared from twelve vantage points along the Eastside. They are available on request and they will be on the wall at the next meeting.

What happens to the trail during construction? Nothing. Towers go up a few at a time from the trail surface, in work windows of a few days each. We were asked whether that was a promise or an aspiration. It is what the construction method requires, which is a stronger thing than either.

Who is paying for this? A three-year grant, plus member dues and individual contributions. We publish a summary of expenditure annually.

Two station locations are moving as a direct result of these evenings, in both cases further from residential frontage. That will be written up properly in the next technical memorandum.