God & Mammon

The indignation expressed recently by the Arch Bishops of Canterbury and York about practices which have contributed to present problems on the world’s financial markets, has turned out to be rather rich. The Financial Times (26.9.2008) has pointed out that the Church of England’s own investments have relied upon those practices so condemned by its leaders.

Being something of a pagan myself, although one respectful of the wise men and women, past and present, of other – and, indeed, no – faiths, I’m aware of the close relationship between God and Mammon in the most of the world’s major established religions, this country’s included. As far as I can make out, these religions have always valued “wealth” and “wealthy” people, a reason why the poor have often gone elswhere.

West Midlands Regional Development Agency

News in the Birmingham Post yesterday that Advantage West Midlands cannot recruit a new chairman for a part time salary of £80k pa comes as a surprise to me. I’m sure many soon-to-be redundant business executives would be very glad of such a generous remuneration package. However, for my own money, I’d like to see someone like former London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, in the job. One of the main problems of the West Midlands is that it’s stuffed to capacity with stodgy people in powerful positions.

A Cautionary Tale of “Urban Regeneration”

The following item from a MSN news is a cautionary tale of “urban regeneration”. The fact is that many thousands of perfectly good “homes” (as politicians like to call) them are being “cleared” (ie demolished) across towns and cities in The Midlands and the North of England, whilst central government – often, but not always – in cohorts with local authorities pursue daft policies (at the home-buyer’s and tax payer’s expense) which lead to this kind of “clerical error”.

“Council sorry for wrong ‘service’

A council apologised to a homebuyer after workmen ripped out the fittings in her new house by mistake.

Claire Walton, 37, was in the process of purchasing the two-bed terrace in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, when the kitchen, bathroom and carpets were removed by workers who believed it was earmarked for clearance.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council admitted that a “clerical error” led to contractors being sent to Ludlow Street, instead of the same number property in nearby Balfour Street.”

The British Property Federation & The Planning Inspectorate

A few years ago, I drew the Planning Inspectorate’s attention to an error on their website. This referred to Liz Peace as Chief Executive of the British Property Foundation (instead of Federation). Ms Peace was identified as an non-executive director of the Planning Inspectorate. At that time – and still – I have mixed feelings about this kind of appointment. No environmental interests, as far I can make out, are represented on the board of the Inspectorate, an Executive Agency of government. However, it has to be said that some of the most sensible work on area regeneration and sustainable development has come from the British Property Federation, and, indeed, some property developers are more advanced in their thinking on these matters than most local councillors and officers in an area like South Worcestershire.

It is fair to say that planning in South Worcestershire is dominated by the mass housebuilding industry. Certain places are positively swarming with house-builder’s “agents” wanting to expand their own or their client’s land banks, with a view to obtaining change of use for housing development and planning consents. This in turn drives local authority designations and planning permissions. The argument being that if change of use and actual consents are withheld, developers will win on Appeal.

This kind of practice is going on all over the country and is a contributing factor to the current parlous state of the mass housebuilding industry, for which, incidentally, I have absolutely zero sympathy, although I am sorry for individuals and small businesses who have lost their jobs.  The fact is that too much land has been allocated for housebuilding and too many planning consents granted in places like South Worcestershire. Developers have land-banked excessively and the value of their assets have plummeted as a consequence. There is also no market for much completed development, particularly for apartments, notwithstanding the various government initiatives being promoted to convert these into affordable housing.

Perhaps we do really needs a British Property Foundation (as distinct from Federation) to tackle the underlying problems of the mass housebuilding sector, as no one else – least of all central government – is doing this. It has to be said that none of the other main (or minor) political parties have much to offer either. However, in the short term we need the Planning Inspectorate to demonstrate that it has a real grasp of land economy and property market issues, which has not, by and large, been the case to date.

Worcestershire Floods : The Good News & Bad

Yes, there is Good News ! Since the major Summer floods of 2007 many drains have been “restored” along local roads (of the kind used by cyclists like me !) and places which used to flood have not done, so far anyway ! Surprising what smaller scale investments and human effort/ingenuity can achieve.

However, many people will no doubt of have seen the now somewhat iconic image of Worcester’s ring-road to the west of the River Severn looking like the Florida Quays causeway , as it has been described. The design of this section of the ring-road (on an embankment and having a “damming effect”) contributes to flooding, but, needless to say, the local authorities and other regional “roadies” want to widen it as part of the grand plan for Greater Worcester etc.

Look for more sustainable transport options !

Is Someone trying to send us a Message ?

Last Summer, I attended the Examination of a Development Plan Document entitled “Balanced Housing Market” in Worcester. Whilst the Planning Inspector, in his own words, struggled “to find the word “flood”” in Worcester City Council’s submissions, major local flooding preceded and followed the Examination. Since then, both major regional and local planning “consultations” (at present for the South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy) seem to be accompanied by flooding. Is someone trying to send us a message ?

The Spectre of Tescograd returns to Worcester

Readers of my blogs will know that the City of Worcester is, from time to time, threatened by the unplanned Metropolis of Tescograd which exists in a parallel reality, but one not too far removed from our own.

This week the comrades at Tescograd decided to fell some 75 trees, apparently to extend the car park at Warndon Villages (an uban extension and small piece in the jigsaw of Greater Tescograd). The local council denied all prior knowledge of this…but you never know who the Tescograd collaborators are.

A year or two ago, the Tescograd spies confiscated some photgraphes of a local tree warden, taken in the Warndon Villages car park, on the grounds that these contained details of the comrades’s vehicle registration numbers. The photos were being processed by Tesco.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !

The Dark Materialism of the West Midlands

The apparent ” slaughter” last week of a mother and daughter together with the family pets and horses by their husband and father, before he blockaded and set on fire the “rural mansion” in which they had lived, and then committed suicide himself, has been the subject of much press coverage and speculation. One British Sunday tabloid even suggested that the Russian Mafia might have played some role in the atrocity. However, CCTV footage from the house suggests that the truth was rather closer to home.

This incident happened near Oswestry in rural North Shropshire. The apparent murderer had run a successful business in the “new town” of Telford, until things started to go wrong, and then turned very bad indeed. People who knew the family are said to find what has happened difficult to believe, although one former employee of the businessman had already suggested that he may have just “flipped”, before the grim reality had been uncovered by police.

Tragically, these things do happen and should be a reminder to everyone not to take the material side of life so seriously that suicide and, even worse, killing other people are resorted to when things go wrong. Here in the West Midlands, we should also remember that the darker side of materialism afflicts affluent rural/suburban areas just as much, and maybe even more, than less affluent urban ones.

Please also see my blog @ The Edge of Town : http://the-edge-of-town.blogspot.com

Worcester neither Backwater nor Colossus

Recent comments suggest that the City of Worcester may need better “positioning” in the real/perceived regional hierarchy of urban areas.

In response to my earlier blog on the proposal for a major inland port” (in a mid 1940s plan for the city), Mr Frank O’Reilly has pointed out : “….wasn’t Worcester the head of marine navigation in the canal-building age so that sea-going vessels could come up the Severn as far as Worcester and then download onto barges for the Worcester-Birmingham Canal ?”

Worcester is certainly not a backwater. In the Middle Ages it was amongst the ten most important settlements in England.  However, there are good reasons why the City did not expand greatly until the second part of the 20th century, and perhaps the main one is water ie propensity to flood. Unfortunately, physical and human geography seem to have become de-coupled in the contemporary planning psyche !

The City’s main challenge at the present time is develop an identity and functions relevent to present economic opportunites and trends which are environmentally sustainable. Colossus it will never be. I suggest that an Elected Mayor could help Worcester define its new role, although it is certainly true Birmingham needs one more.

Could this be a new role for Ken “Chavez” Livingstone perhaps, as the West Midlands seems to lack a colossus, and Ken certainly “bestrides this narrow world….” like his equally cosmopolitan successor.

An Update on Rottweiler Man

A number of people have asked me for an update on Rottweiler Man, so this post is for them, and particularly for Linda of http://canineanalglands.com !

For those unfamiliar with my story, a man with a Rottweiler accused me of assaulting him at the beginning of year, photographed me with his mobile phone and said he would report me to the police. Needless to say this never happened because, quite simply, I had neither assaulted him nor threatened him in any way, precisely the contrary in fact : he accosted me, with the consequence that his dog lept up at me. Fortunately, I generally get on well with dogs, and this canine was friendly enough. So when his owner accosted me once more, and then appeared to be strangling his dog with a choke lead  (to prevent it jumping up again), I tapped the human on his arm for fear he was becoming hysterical. This then prompted the accusation of assault.

Since then, I’ve seen Rottweiler Man a few times, but have tried to avoid any further interactions with him, much as I like his dog. However, I have naturally reflected on the incident. The amateur psychologist in me feels that I may have triggered some latent fear of assault, based perhaps on a real attack in the past : hence Rottweiler Man’s need for an “attack dog” (although the animal is clearly friendly when there is no danger of attack – eg from myself –  to his owner).

However, I have noted a tendency for “Worcester/shire Man ” to be rather fearful. When I approached Worcester MP Michael Foster in the street before the last General Election (to talk about planning issues), he tried to duck away, afraid, I think, that I was going to have a go at him (maybe even bite him !) about hunting with dogs. More recently, during the Summer and in broad daylight, a man set a dog on me on the grounds that I might be a male youth and he feared for the safety of himself and partner.

This more generalised fear I put down to “Worcester/shire Wimp Syndrome”, a  curious fear of strangers, and sub-urban mentality arising from too many incomers ie unsustainable growth.