Town planning - and the small matter of civilisation

Almost answering any sensible reader’s question “So how do we and the architects progress?” after piling through his 1998 book Cities and Civilisation, Peter Hall mulls the manifest shortcomings of London’s urban experience in 1998 and writes that cities are “superbly worth living in” - and that those residents who can no longer abide them are always free to flee to the suburbs.

No blueprint, then – or at least, not on this occasion. He calls for policies to help the refugees: and in April 2009, no less, the public can see the results of President Sarkozy’s 10-architect show called Grand Paris 2030 which focuses on greening both the centre and - notably, for Paris - its suburbs.

More details about the show can be seen at ArchitectureLab:

http://architecturelab.net/2009/03/15/ten-scenarios-for-%E2%80%98grand-paris%E2%80%99-metropolis-now-up-for-public-debate/


Casting two fingers at UK planning’s holy of holies - the post-war legislation that staunched ribbon development just in time before SuperMac’s “you never had it so good Britain got into its stride” - one of Sarko’s architects, Antoine Grumbach, suggests Paris should extend north-westwards along the Seine to the Channel harbour at Le Havre.

True, Havre needs all the help it can get, and the design cheekily reproduces Buonapart’s idea of “one single city, to Havre via Rouen”.

Like a debutant marathon runner, could “civilisation in the long” survive such a long track, delivering a series of delights to the refugees? Away from the exhibition, surely it is better to focus on the 20:20 vision of petit projets.

Peter Hall in his book relates that a Parisian prefet called Autrant recognised in 1920 that many of the capital’s quartiers were ilots insalubres. His colleagues set about buying and demolishing ilot numero un.

The demolition of this numero un (by today’s standard) average-sized plot was not completed until 1935…with the site empty and vacant until 1972….when Rogers and Piano came along and created Centre Pompidou.

Hall tacitly acknowledges Paris’ determination, post-war, to create better transport has been successful.

He cites an architect, Delouvrier, as the genius of the piece – along with the leadership and (20:20?) vision of …De Gaulle.

But the mix - in 2009, and 2030 - of Sarko, Buonapart and Grumbach? Does not ring true.

(More details, please see www.paris.fr/ )

Bridging the gap: planning application resentment in south Cornwall

It took a Londoner at the beginning of March 2009 to shed some light on development issues that have bedevilled residents and workers in the attractive Helford estuary, south Cornwall, for a decade.

During that decade, a range of industries, the leisure trade and the innocent potterings of families-in-boats surrounding Helford have exerted increased pressure on its AONB and SSSI status: in other words, the resentments that have festered in south Cornwall are common to many communities in the UK, with growing 21st century populations bringing as many challenges as benefits.

The person who - for better or for worse, depending on your viewpoint - shed some light this March was London-based QC Tim Straker.

Employed by the 150-strong Helford Village Society (HVS) he mobilised sufficient argument to convince the High Court on 5 March 2009 that the proposed taxpayer-funded project to build a concrete jetty - where only rocks and seaweed currently exist, and which would project into the estuary, accessed by the vans and lorries of south Cornwall fisherman through very narrow village and valley lanes - should be abandoned, forgotten, cast into Davy Jones locker.

The relief and joy expressed by the HVS during the first week of March following the rejection of the project by His Honour Judge Michael Kay QC was tempered by the thought: where do we go from here, to preserve as much as we can of the environment, and help the disappointed fishermen?

The arguments and comments rehearsed so many times are detailed and seemingly insoluble, beyond the obvious need to agree a location for fishermen away from the jetty proposed for expansion. Landowners adjacent to the T-junction - where incoming tides are swift - do not appear enthusiastic.

Perhaps the divisions may be healed by adopting components of the model that the “official” management of the nearby Fal estuary presents.

There are a range of agencies charged with preserving the natural and built environment, while allowing industry to thrive. One of them is the FHC, the Falmouth Harbour Commissioners.

Mark Sansom, Harbourmaster at Falmouth, comments:

“Much of the Fal Estuary falls under the jurisdiction of statutory
harbour authorities.

“Within these areas there is a clear management and
regulatory framework governing the majority of activities undertaken.

“The harbour authorities involved have a clear mandate to engage with
their stakeholders, and manage activities appropriately.

“The management of fisheries within these areas is undertaken by a number of different organisations - such as Cornwall Sea Fisheries and the Environment Agency - who will also have authority to act outside of the harbour authority
jurisdiction.

“The harmonisation of the uses of the marine environment
is a key objective of the proposed Marine Bill."

So the protagonists in and around Helford have a void to negotiate – a void comprising a lack of a will to compromise, and, it appears, the lack of a viable alternative location for the jetty where fishermen expected, until the Court decision of 5 March, to be able to land their catches unencumbered by the regulations and charges that apply in Falmouth harbour.