Those of us who attended the Thames Gateway Bridge Planning Inquiry between 2005-6 will remember that the London Borough of Greenwich, who had been a leading opponent of an earlier version of this project, made much of its importance to the regeneration of Woolwich.
Incidentally, if this long running inquiry of nearly a year's duration had taken place in Woolwich, rather than Charlton Athletic Football Club, the economy of that town, and birthplace of the famous Arsenal FC, might well have benefited.
However, the Planning Inspector recommended against the Thames Gateway Bridge in 2007, and the new Chairman of Transport for London Mayor Boris Johnson scrapped the scheme last year, notwithstanding continuing efforts by the likes of Greenwich Council to revive it.
Now it has been announced that TfL has a joint venture partner for two rail transport related commercial development projects in Woolwich, and that planning applications for these are anticipated next year.
My view has always been that the regeneration benefits of rail investment for Woolwich town centre and the Royal Arsenal areas are much more significant than any potential contribution of a road-based river crossing which has the major environmental objections of the TGB.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
TAKING US ALL TO THE CLEANERS
Jonathon Porrit's departure from Chair of the Government's Sustainable Development Commission has generated a good deal of green rancour on the part of the great man. Newspapers report a fall-out with the prime mover in green slime himself, Lord Mandelson.
However, the fact that this Government prefers the nuclear option to renewables should surely come as no surprise to someone as intelligent as Sir Jonathon. After all, the Prime Minister's own expenses showed he shared a cleaner with his brother, who he is top PR man for the industry.
However, the fact that this Government prefers the nuclear option to renewables should surely come as no surprise to someone as intelligent as Sir Jonathon. After all, the Prime Minister's own expenses showed he shared a cleaner with his brother, who he is top PR man for the industry.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
The Problem of Resource Misallocation
Since the publication of my previous post, there has been an ongoing argument amongst British Government ministers, politicians of other parties and senior figures in the Armed Services about whether this country's front line soldiers in Afghanistan are adequately resourced. In fact, the problem is more likely to be one of misallocated resources : for as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Harriet Harman - and someone with whom I rarely agree - has pointed out, Britain's "defence" expenditure is the second largest in the world, presumably after the United States, in real terms.
This problem of resource misallocation is , I would suggest, as much a contemporary "British Disease" as lack of productivity was in earlier times, and, indeed, it may be argued that the two are closely allied. Take, for instance, "a little local difficulty", to quote former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, with which I have been wrestling in recent monthss.
I have been concerned for some time about the state of Worcester's iconic Foregate Street Railway bridge , which passes above a busy thoroughfare. It has been pointed out to me that basic lack of maintenance of this heritage-listed Victorian iron bridge is causing structural damage. As a consequence, I often visually inspect said structure when passing underneath. Last week, I noticed that a bracket attached to a horizontal metal beam was broken and the beam had started to sag. I drew this problem to the attention of staff at the adjoining railway station; and bracket and beam have since been secured with a (very high tech !) piece of wire. This is just as well because a bus stop is located immediately below.
Needless to say there are various stakeholders involved in the future of Foregate Street Railway Bridge : namely Network Rail (who own the structure) together with Worcestershire County Council, who have responsibility for sub-regional integrated transport planning. The lesser players are train operating company London Midland, who run Foregate Street Station, and the City Council, who are the local planning authority and responsible for heritage conservation. I think it's fair to say that these secondary stakeholders, who are most directly affected by the state of the bridge, would very much like to see this structure and the station regenerated.
By contrast, the main obstacles to such regeneration appear to be the infrastructure owner, Network Rail, and, in particular, Worcestershire County Council. The latter has for some years run a concerted campaign to have a strategic rail parkway station constructed to the south east of the current Worcester boundary, and takes little interest interest in the City's two existing railway stations, of which Foregate Street is one. The other, Shrub Hill, was placed on the English Heritage At Risk Register last year, but subsequent investment by the Railway Heritage Trust (part of Network Rail) has brought some respite for that station.
So what is Network Rail doing about Foregate Street Railway Bridge and Station ? I think it's a testimony to the apparent disinterest hitherto of this organisation that a sign on the wall immediately below the structure informs passers-by to contact - in the event of a problem -RailTrack, the deceased private sector company from which Network Rail took over ownership and operation of Britain's railway infrastructure in 2002. As far as I can make out, Network Rail is a sort of quango which means that it operates much of the time along mysterious lines. As regular media coverage also testifies, the company appears to have a strong preference - shared, incidentally, by Worcestershire County Council - for grand prestige projects which distract it from smaller, but nevertheless essential, resource allocations.
An all-too-familiar story, I suspect !
This problem of resource misallocation is , I would suggest, as much a contemporary "British Disease" as lack of productivity was in earlier times, and, indeed, it may be argued that the two are closely allied. Take, for instance, "a little local difficulty", to quote former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, with which I have been wrestling in recent monthss.
I have been concerned for some time about the state of Worcester's iconic Foregate Street Railway bridge , which passes above a busy thoroughfare. It has been pointed out to me that basic lack of maintenance of this heritage-listed Victorian iron bridge is causing structural damage. As a consequence, I often visually inspect said structure when passing underneath. Last week, I noticed that a bracket attached to a horizontal metal beam was broken and the beam had started to sag. I drew this problem to the attention of staff at the adjoining railway station; and bracket and beam have since been secured with a (very high tech !) piece of wire. This is just as well because a bus stop is located immediately below.
Needless to say there are various stakeholders involved in the future of Foregate Street Railway Bridge : namely Network Rail (who own the structure) together with Worcestershire County Council, who have responsibility for sub-regional integrated transport planning. The lesser players are train operating company London Midland, who run Foregate Street Station, and the City Council, who are the local planning authority and responsible for heritage conservation. I think it's fair to say that these secondary stakeholders, who are most directly affected by the state of the bridge, would very much like to see this structure and the station regenerated.
By contrast, the main obstacles to such regeneration appear to be the infrastructure owner, Network Rail, and, in particular, Worcestershire County Council. The latter has for some years run a concerted campaign to have a strategic rail parkway station constructed to the south east of the current Worcester boundary, and takes little interest interest in the City's two existing railway stations, of which Foregate Street is one. The other, Shrub Hill, was placed on the English Heritage At Risk Register last year, but subsequent investment by the Railway Heritage Trust (part of Network Rail) has brought some respite for that station.
So what is Network Rail doing about Foregate Street Railway Bridge and Station ? I think it's a testimony to the apparent disinterest hitherto of this organisation that a sign on the wall immediately below the structure informs passers-by to contact - in the event of a problem -RailTrack, the deceased private sector company from which Network Rail took over ownership and operation of Britain's railway infrastructure in 2002. As far as I can make out, Network Rail is a sort of quango which means that it operates much of the time along mysterious lines. As regular media coverage also testifies, the company appears to have a strong preference - shared, incidentally, by Worcestershire County Council - for grand prestige projects which distract it from smaller, but nevertheless essential, resource allocations.
An all-too-familiar story, I suspect !
Saturday, July 11, 2009
British Foreign Policy
Having been personally grounded for some time - an experience I highly recommend to jet setters and other high fliers - I'm conscious that the downside of this may be a point of view which is insufficiently internationalist, so today I want to reflect on Britain's foreign policy.
The death of British Armed Service Men and Women in Afghanistan is a tragedy. Leaving aside the rationale for their presence in the country, Britain must recompense and resource them adequately whilst they are there. This is not presently the case.
However, the experience of other military campaigns in that country - and notably of the former Soviet Union in the 1980s - suggests that the situation in Afghanistan will continue to be extremely difficult for NATO forces.
A basic issue, which seems to un/under-recognised by Western Governments is the sheer numbers of young men willing to fight for the Taliban and similar tribal/religious causes. In short, this is a war involving "the many" on "the other side".
Therefore, it is only when the citizens of conflict zones themselves take up arms against the perpetrators of tribal and religious violence - as happened recently in Pakistan - that there is any real prospect of "winning the war".
For most Western leaders and technocrats - military and civilian - old-fashioned and prolonged conflict "on foreign ground" - and very difficult ground in the case of Afghanistan - is, I suspect, still alien territory.
The challenge for British Foreign Policy on this, and other issues, is, I would suggest, to find its feet again. Understanding the demographics of conflict zones, including the role of very large, and increasing, numbers of un/under-employed young men is an area worthy of greater policy research.
However, please do not pretend that the so-called "Beautiful Game (ie football) can solve the problems of those countries where former Western foreign policy (notably of Britain and Russia during earlier colonial regimes) was known as the "Great Game".
The death of British Armed Service Men and Women in Afghanistan is a tragedy. Leaving aside the rationale for their presence in the country, Britain must recompense and resource them adequately whilst they are there. This is not presently the case.
However, the experience of other military campaigns in that country - and notably of the former Soviet Union in the 1980s - suggests that the situation in Afghanistan will continue to be extremely difficult for NATO forces.
A basic issue, which seems to un/under-recognised by Western Governments is the sheer numbers of young men willing to fight for the Taliban and similar tribal/religious causes. In short, this is a war involving "the many" on "the other side".
Therefore, it is only when the citizens of conflict zones themselves take up arms against the perpetrators of tribal and religious violence - as happened recently in Pakistan - that there is any real prospect of "winning the war".
For most Western leaders and technocrats - military and civilian - old-fashioned and prolonged conflict "on foreign ground" - and very difficult ground in the case of Afghanistan - is, I suspect, still alien territory.
The challenge for British Foreign Policy on this, and other issues, is, I would suggest, to find its feet again. Understanding the demographics of conflict zones, including the role of very large, and increasing, numbers of un/under-employed young men is an area worthy of greater policy research.
However, please do not pretend that the so-called "Beautiful Game (ie football) can solve the problems of those countries where former Western foreign policy (notably of Britain and Russia during earlier colonial regimes) was known as the "Great Game".
Friday, July 10, 2009
A New Breed of Climate Change Protester ?
Whilst the President is Away
The Turtles will Delay....
With the G8's latest pronouncements on climate change just made, has a new breed of protester revealed their dissatisfaction with the latest proposals ?
From pa.press.net : Turtle invasion delays flights
A runway at New York's Kennedy Airport had to be shut down after 78 turtles emerged from a nearby bay and crawled onto the tarmac.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said ground crews rounded up the wayward reptiles in about 35 minutes and deposited them back in the water, farther from airport property.
The shutdown disrupted flight schedules, with delays climbing to more than an hour.
The Turtles will Delay....
With the G8's latest pronouncements on climate change just made, has a new breed of protester revealed their dissatisfaction with the latest proposals ?
From pa.press.net : Turtle invasion delays flights
A runway at New York's Kennedy Airport had to be shut down after 78 turtles emerged from a nearby bay and crawled onto the tarmac.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said ground crews rounded up the wayward reptiles in about 35 minutes and deposited them back in the water, farther from airport property.
The shutdown disrupted flight schedules, with delays climbing to more than an hour.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
My Search for Enlightenment is Well Rewarded
Whilst separately researching sustainable construction and earth-based spirituality (as reflected in the historic environment), I came upon a fusion of the two subjects in The Arch Druid Report http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/ @ Energy Bulletin http://www.energybulletin.net/
My researches thus rewarded in this Zen-like enlightenment, I can heartily recommend both these sites.
My researches thus rewarded in this Zen-like enlightenment, I can heartily recommend both these sites.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Need "To Shrink" the State of Britain.
On 26 June, I reflected on the United States government policy of "City Shrinking" and noted that our former Deputy Prime Minister was something of a convert to this way of thinking, in the context of some old Northern industrial areas over here. I also noted that Mr Prescott acknowledged the need for a "Shrink" (ie psychological counsellor) himself with respect to an eating disorder.
Today, I want to reflect again on these two meanings of "shrink" (verb and noun), this time with regard to the state of Britain.
Yesterday, Deborah Orr, writing in The Independent newspaper, recommended that the state needed to be significantly, but also selectively, reduced in size, a view with which I concur.
However, I would also suggest that our "State", like Mr Prescott, also needs a Shrink. The lengthy reading lists for the public British Broadcasting Corporation's "Headroom Campaign", intended to help people deal with "depression" and make them happier are a case in point : for amongst these lists, I would suggest, are a number of volumes likely to have precisely the opposite effect on most people. But perhaps "misery" is essential to state/media control.
Today, I want to reflect again on these two meanings of "shrink" (verb and noun), this time with regard to the state of Britain.
Yesterday, Deborah Orr, writing in The Independent newspaper, recommended that the state needed to be significantly, but also selectively, reduced in size, a view with which I concur.
However, I would also suggest that our "State", like Mr Prescott, also needs a Shrink. The lengthy reading lists for the public British Broadcasting Corporation's "Headroom Campaign", intended to help people deal with "depression" and make them happier are a case in point : for amongst these lists, I would suggest, are a number of volumes likely to have precisely the opposite effect on most people. But perhaps "misery" is essential to state/media control.
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