Kind of buried the lede.
However, despite the council’s approval on Wednesday, the plans still face an uncertain future, after Brompton revealed earlier this month that its pre-tax profits had plunged by over 99 per cent from £10.7m in 2023 to just £4,602 for the year ending March 2024.
…
According to the agency, the proposed factory and headquarters, set to be built on a 100-acre Zone 3b floodplain, could be prone to flooding and lead to the loss of local wildlife. Flood Zone 3b refers to land known as a functional floodplain, where water from rivers or the sea has to flow or be stored during a flood.
So this isn’t just wildlife preservation folks missing the mark; they have what seem to be legitimate concerns about the project. I used to work on a study that looked at the cost of active vs passive wetland restoration, and I can assure you, active restoration isn’t cheap (which is what the company is proposing). If they’re so cash-poor, will they even be able to afford restoring a wetland? What happens if they start on the construction but go bankrupt? What if they experience flooding greater than planned?
Helping to grow alternative travel methods is good, but if I lived there, I would be worried, too.
Likely tax dodge accounting, or more hopefully actual investment in infrastructure.
Someone I know who’s involved in economics also said it sounds kinda like some sort of scam project, like it got bought by some hedge fund with the goal of tanking it to get insurance money or something.
I dunno, I’m not smart enough to make any kinda claim like that myself or really understand it, but I do know that the numbers and actions seem incongruous or naively optimistic.
Have been happily using bromptons for decades now, just great to get off a train in a new city and immediately start exploring, even with a lot of luggage. Only, we live in Belgium, wish eurostar would stop at Ashford station again (or even better make a passenger shuttle just Lille-Ashford, carrying bikes, with cheaper price than Brussels-London), then we might visit.
When you wanna champion for wildlife while also a carbrain:
