Regenerating Seaside Towns > parliamentary committee report: they need to "reinvent themselves with a long-term, place-based vision."

How can we 'reinvent' the seaside town?
Futures Forum: “Belligerence and creativity” >>> entrepreneur-led revitalisation of seaside towns >>> "People aren’t interested in that old seaside ice cream cone and walk along the beach any more. They’re looking for more."

Back in the autumn, a Lords' committee looked into what might be done:
Futures Forum: Regenerating Seaside Towns: parliamentary committee calls for evidence

The VGS sent in a contribution:
Vision Group report published by House of Lords committee on “Regenerating seaside towns and communities” - Vision Group for Sidmouth

And the Lords' full report has been published today:
Regenerating Seaside Towns Committee - UK Parliament

It's been looked at across the media:
Seaside towns are being killed off by poor broadband, says Lords report - Telegraph
Seaside town reinvention 'should start with Blackpool' - BBC News
LocalGov.co.uk - Your authority on UK local government - Peers recommend tax incentives for seaside landlords

Cornwall needs a much better rail link:
What the House of Lords believes Cornwall is missing - Cornwall Live

This is what ITV news has to say: 

Seaside towns need to be urgently reinvented, report warns

Seaside towns need to be reinvented to attract tourists and residents and become desirable places to live and visit, a parliament report has said. The report called on improvements to education, housing and transport links, so seaside towns can "reinvent themselves with a long-term, place-based vision."

In the Future of Seaside Town report, peers said poor transport links to seaside towns are "severely hindering" opportunities to improve tourism and attract funding.

They warned young people are at a disadvantage because of their limited access to education, especially post 16-education.

The report called on the government to improve digital connectivity, most notably high-speed broadband, saying doing so would provide an opportunity to "overcome the challenges of peripherality in coastal areas."

Coastal towns which emerged as leisure and pleasure resorts in the 19th century have been neglected for “too long”. The House of Lords select committee said these places should once again be “celebrated as places that can provide attractive environments for residents and visitors."

The peers also called for ministers to set out how coastal areas will benefit from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which will replace EU funding after Brexit, and to increase resources for the Coastal Communities Fund.

"What is needed is a package of strategic initiatives and interventions where national and local government work together to address issues such as transport, housing, post-school education and high-speed broadband." Lord Bassam of Brighton

Places like Brighton and Bournemouth have shown that the seaside can successfully reinvent itself.

Lord Bassam of Brighton said: “The potential impact of Brexit on these towns, particularly the hospitality sector, also remains an open question. A single solution to their economic and social challenges doesn’t exist. What is needed is a package of strategic initiatives and interventions where national and local government work together to address issues such as transport, housing, post-school education and high-speed broadband."

He added: “The committee is confident that if our recommendations are pursued, seaside towns can once again become prosperous and desirable places to live in and visit.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “The Government is determined to ensure our economy works for everyone and every place. We are on track to invest £200 million in the Great British Coast by 2020 and recently announced a £36 million package of support to projects in coastal communities through our Coastal Communities Fund and Coastal Revival Fund.

"We have also made a commitment to support towns to harness their unique strengths to grow and prosper through the £1.6 billion Stronger Towns Fund. We recognise the challenges facing our seaside towns and will carefully consider the committee’s recommendations to build on the significant steps we have already taken to help coastal communities thrive.”

Seaside towns need to be urgently reinvented, report warns - ITV News
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Ben Hamilton-Baillie: architect and leading voice in the promotion of ‘shared space’

Ben Hamilton-Baillie, the influential architect and leading voice in the promotion of ‘shared space’ on the roads of cities, towns and villages, has died:
Ben Hamilton-Baillie obituary | Cities | The Guardian

He was also very much involved in Sustrans:
Remembering Ben Hamilton-Baillie | Sustrans

Here's a talk he gave recently: 



Ben Hamilton-Baillie - Streets, Networks and Public Space from Architecture and Design Scotland on Vimeo.

The Architects' Journal carries an obituary:

Traffic-calming pioneer Ben Hamilton-Baillie dies

3 APRIL, 2019 BY GREG PITCHER

Ben Hamilton-Baillie had a habit of lying in the road to demonstrate the safety of his traffic-calming schemes

1 COMMENT

Tributes have been paid to shared road space trailblazer Ben Hamilton-Baillie, who has died of cancer aged 63

The influential urban design consultant, and keen pedestrian and cyclist safety exponent, studied architecture at the University of Cambridge in the 1970s.

He spent time in Hamburg and London before settling into a career in social housing in Bristol.

In 1995, Hamilton-Baillie joined pedestrian and cyclist charity Sustrans to help it deliver a national cycle network with National Lottery funding.

His work became truly international from the turn of the Millennium as he travelled to Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany on a Winston Churchill Traveling Fellowship, and then became a Harvard University Loeb Fellow.

Studies throughout this period led Hamilton-Baillie to the conclusion that removing traffic control measures such as lights, signs and boxes would encourage drivers to take responsibility for avoiding more vulnerable road users.

He set up Hamilton-Baillie Associates in 2003 and went on to redesign several busy junctions using his principles of equal priority for vehicles, bikes and walkers. The practice’s regeneration of Park Lane in Poynton town centre, Cheshire – which boosted pedestrian access and removed traffic lights to slash average speeds – won the 2013 Highways Magazine award for congestion reduction.

In the meantime, Dixon Jones won an RIBA Award in 2012 for a much-heralded transformation of London’s Exhibition Road that was inspired by Hamilton-Baillie’s work.

Sustrans chief executive Xavier Brice said this month that Hamilton-Baillie ‘played an instrumental role’ in shaping the organisation.

‘He was a true pioneer and trailblazer, fondly remembered by colleagues for his infectious passion, humour and expertise,’ he wrote. ‘But Ben’s interest went beyond cycle paths. He led study tours to the Netherlands to see woonerfs or home zones, and these led to Sustrans’ DIY Streets, which in turn led to the community street design work that sits at the heart of so much of what we do today.’

Hamilton-Baillie’s wife Jennifer Hill told the AJ he was always looking to bring people together, whether through his work or social activities.

‘Ben was passionate about creating public space that people would want to use and giving opportunities for people to meet up and hang out without the car taking over,’ she said. ‘In his personal life he was always doing this as well. Within our community in Bristol he was a focal point, organising group bike rides, community events and holidays. When he was ill, all our neighbours rallied around and a lot of people were very sad when he died.’

Ben is also survived by the couple’s two children, Laurence and Agnes. A family funeral has been held.

Traffic-calming pioneer Ben Hamilton-Baillie dies | News | Architects Journal
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WHAT IF? the mini-sequel to THE AGE OF STUPID set in a parallel universe

You might remember the film 'The Age of Stupid':
The Age of Stupid | Spanner Films

- and other movies looking to an inhospitable future:
Futures Forum: Climate change: "spectacular images of an increasingly inhospitable environment"

Here's a less inhospitable prognosis:
The Age of Stupid revisited: what's changed on climate change? – video | Environment | The Guardian



Spanner Films

15.03.2019

[ Subtitled version now at: https://youtu.be/LuUQnpi8Mjk ]

In a parallel universe, Fred Miliband, Carolyn Lukas, Zack Harries, Jon Snowflake, Kris Peckham, Jonathan Pie and the President of the Maldives battle to save the people of Earthly from suffering the same fate as "those poor people on Earth". This new film by the team behind The Age of Stupid is released on 15th March 2019 - ten years to the day since Age of Stupid launched at its green-carpet, solar-powered premiere. And also the day of the first ever *global* schools strike. Poetic indeed. The AGE OF STUPID will be broadcast on BBC4 in the next few weeks (exact date TBC), and is available now on iTunes, Amazon Prime (in English French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese) and Google Play. CREDITS Written, Directed & Produced by Franny Armstrong Editor - David G Hill Original Music - Chris Brierley and the Band of Holy Joy Script Consultant - Mark Lynas Starring (in order of appearance) - Pete Postlethwaite, Nicholls family & Maisie, Beekmayer family, Ed Miliband, Jon Snow, Jonathan Pie aka Tom Walker, Jack Harries, Tamsin Allen, Alaa Abdoun, Laura Jackson, Aljona Vasjutina, Hugh Warwick, Professor Peter Cox, Mohammed Nasheed, former President of the Maldives, Chris Packham, Cara Horgan, Matilda Warwick, Caroline Lucas

WHAT IF? the mini-sequel to THE AGE OF STUPID set in a parallel universe - YouTube
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Ctrl Shift - An Emergency Summit for Change > 8th - 10th May

An interesting event coming up next month:

We at Transition Network are proud to be involved in CTRLshift, we believe that Transition is a key part of the jigsaw to creating a new and better UK, be great to see you there. CTRLshift seeks to catalyse a network of change-making organisations, networks, and independent practitioners, creating a movement for positive social, economic and environmental change. We are developing a shared agenda to shift power over our democracy, economy and environment to people and communities across Britain. CTRLshift: An Emergency Summit for Change 2 will take place this year in Stoke on Trent over 8-10 May 2019. We are developing a shared agenda to shift power over our democracy, economy and environment to people and communities across Britain. Join change makers from across economy, land, social justice and environmental sectors for the second annual summit. CTRLshift collaborators include Permaculture Association, Shared Assets, Transition Network, Happy Museums, Totnes Reconomy Project, The Alternative UK, Democracy Collaborative, Co-operatives UK, Shared Futures CIC, Preston Cooperative Development Network, Schumacher Institute, Ethical Consumer, Middleport Environment Charity, Losing Control, United Diversity, Stir to Action, CLES and Counter Coin. Over the two days of the event, the programme will include: 1.  Solutions Sessions – workshops sharing latest work and practice across sectors from our partners and other collaborators in the event. 2. Thematic Sessions –  exploring key themes within groups (Economy, Environment, Democracy) leading to facilitated sessions that explore deeper collaboration – using Stoke as a context and example to test our ideas and ground them in the reality of a real place. What would it look like if we put it all together in Stoke? With groups from Stoke. 3. Networking & Co-Working Sessions – time to foster new connections and cross sector collaboration – day 1 more organised; day 2, self-organised 4. Strategy Sessions – Where next for CTRLshift – invitation to get involved, funding, plans for events, working groups, how to get involved as partner, linking to parallel initiatives. Lets get the whole system in the room. National Organisations £125 + booking fee Regional & Grassroots Organisations £100 + booking fee Subsidised Local Community Enterprises £80 + booking fee Limited Bursary Places available 8-10 May 2019 Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire Find out more and how to book here: http://www.ctrlshiftsummit.org.uk

Copyright © 2019 TRNUK, All rights reserved.

CTRLshift – An Emergency Summit for Change
CTRLshift2019: Shaping our future together (@CTRLshiftSummit) on Twitter
CTRLshift Summit 2019 public group | Facebook
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Lack of repair knowledge in society

An interesting piece on the Sidmouth Repair Café's Facebook pages:
Sidmouth Repair Cafe - Home | Facebook

Lack of repair knowledge hinders circular economy

03.04.2019

Many broken items are relatively easy to repair. But many people have so little repair knowledge that they don’t succeed in doing so independently. That is one of the conclusions that the Repair Café International Foundation draws from the analysis of almost 8,000 repairs.

Repair Café International analyzed the data entered in the RepairMonitor, the online tool for repair data collection, in 2018. The data was entered by volunteer repairers at 34 Repair Cafés in the Netherlands, the US, the UK and Australia.

Cleaning, descaling and lubricating
65% of all repairs were successful. In many cases it turned out that items were not really broken, but mainly needed maintenance. Simple tasks such as cleaning, descaling or lubricating were often enough to make a product work again. The fact that people come to a Repair Café for this, mention the report’s authors, is proof of the lack of repair knowledge in society.

“Many people are also insufficiently aware that maintenance is a normal thing; they no longer see this as a self-evident task that you perform at home, as part of everyday life”, says Martine Postma, director of Repair Café International.

Putting repair back into the classroom
According to the foundation, this must change urgently. Postma: “Many countries want to make the transition to a circular economy. In such a society, repairing and taking good care of your things are normal activities. Our volunteers are happy to show their neighbours the basics of repairing, but the real change will come when repair skills are put on the curriculum once more.”

More robust design can prevent problems
Analysis of the RepairMonitor data also shows that many problems could have been prevented by more robust design of mainly electrical appliances. The most common problems found, when these items are brought to the Repair Café, are wire breaks, worn gears, broken switches and buttons, reduced battery capacity etc. “These parts are often not produced in a way that they can take regular long-term use”, the report states.

Popular products and brands
The most common item brought to the Repair Café in 2018 was the coffee machine. Also vacuum cleaners, bicycles, lamps, trousers, sewing machines, clocks, coats, irons and laptops are often brought in for repair. The most popular brands in the RepairMonitor 2018 are Philips, Sony, Bosch, Tefal, Samsung, Miele, HP, Nespresso, Gazelle and Braun.

Top 10 most popular products in RepairMonitor 2018, with numbers

More information and joining
Want to know more? Download the report (in Dutch). Or read the summary (in English).
Want to collect data via the RepairMonitor too? Sign up your Repair Café now!

Lack of repair knowledge hinders circular economy - Repair Café (EN)
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Carbon capture > technological fix or false hope?

Is carbon capture and storage going to sort out climate change?
Futures Forum: Climate change: Bio-energy + carbon capture and storage
Futures Forum: Climate change >>> Engineering the climate >>> 'As a technology of last resort, carbon removal is paradoxical. It may be impossible to manage and it may also be impossible to manage without.'
Futures Forum: Climate change: will Carbon Capture and Storage be the techno-fix to 'unlock' unburnable fossil fuels?

It's certainly in the news of late:
Carbon Capture is a Policy Problem, Not a Technology Problem | WCAI
How Carbon Capture Tech Is Easing Industry’s Green Transition - Forbes

And one project is on the BBC tonight:

Climate change: 'Magic bullet' carbon solution takes big step

By Matt McGratEnvironment correspondent
3 April 2019



A technology that removes carbon dioxide from the air has received significant backing from major fossil fuel companies.

British Columbia-based Carbon Engineering has shown that it can extract CO2 in a cost-effective way. It has now been boosted by $68m in new investment from Chevron, Occidental and coal giant BHP.

But climate campaigners are worried that the technology will be used to extract even more oil. 

The quest for technology for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from the air received significant scientific endorsement last year with the publication of the IPCC report on keeping the rise in global temperatures to 1.5C this century. In their "summary for policymakers", the scientists stated that: "All pathways that limit global warming to 1.5C with limited or no overshoot project the use of CDR ...over the 21st century."

Around the world, a number of companies are racing to develop the technology that can draw down carbon. Swiss company Climeworks is already capturing CO2 and using it to boost vegetable production.

Carbon Engineering says that its direct air capture (DAC) process is now able to capture the gas for under $100 a tonne.

Climate change: 'Magic bullet' carbon solution takes big step - BBC News
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Sidford traffic jam >16th March 2018

Some of you will remember this a year ago:




Sidford traffic jam 2 16mar18 - YouTube

This blog has just received a comment:

Nasty, what's it like this spring? 

We shall have to see, but at the time this was posted:

We've got a problem with our roads in Sidford: http://futuresforumvgs.blogspot.de/20... 

The clear implication being that if you plonk a large industrial estate just around the corner from these narrow Medieval streets, you're going to get a few more blockages. 

And now the applicants are appealing - but the Inspector is accepting new comments. But they have to be about traffic issues:
Futures Forum: Sidford business park >> campaign group's latest update > additional comments can be sent to the appeal Inspector by 22nd April
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