COAL & POWER – SOME GOOD NEWS AND SOME BAD…

The decision by power company EON to postpone construction of the proposed Kingsnorth coal-fired power station in Kent  - New Kingsnorth coal plant delayed‎ - provides some good news, at the same time as the Government’s decision to allow UK Coal to develop an open cast mine in Shropshire provides some bad  : www.cpre.org.uk/news/view/630

Both decisions point to the inadequacy of sustainable energy planning in Britain, and indeed, the need for a UK-wide strategy in the context of devolved planning in Scotland and Wales, together with the prospect of Single Integrated Regional Strategies or SIRS  for the English Regions, albeit that these may not survive a change of government.

Key to such a national strategy will, of course, be the evidence-base, including forecasts and future scenarios. As someone opposed to both the nuclear option and indefinite dependence upon non-renewal resources, I nevertheless accept that there may be a transitional period between the present situation and a “clean energy” end state.

The key questions for me relate to the main components of this transitional period, it’s likely timescale and, most importantly, the likely spatial implications of these including remedial measures. I don’t sense that this information currently exists in any meaningful,coherent and accessible form, and therein lies another problem for energy planning : a rather more serious one in my view than so-called Nimbyism.

WMRSS Phase 2 Revision EIP CLOSING SUBMISSION

My written closing submission is provided below :

This submission comprises 2 parts :
1. Summary of Key Points made to the Examination
2. A New Mercian Hymn (for WMRSS) based on A Re-Construction of the opening to Geoffrey Hill’s Mercian Hymns*

1. Summary of Key Points made to the Examination

My original response to the WMRSS Phase 2 Spatial Options Consultation (2007) identified the need to align the development of options with Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), and expressed scepticism about the potential scale of housing-based growth, even prior to the subsequent economic downturn.

In the event, the issues of SEA compliance, in relation to the development of spatial options in both the West Midlands Regional Assembly’s Preferred Option and subsequent work for the Government Office by Nathaniel Litchfield and Partners, have been highlighted during the Examination Process.

2. A New Mercian Hymn (for the Regional Spatial Strategy)

King of the West Midlands Heritage, Local Distinctiveness :
Overlord for Sustainable Transport : Architect of
Renaissance in the Major Urban Areas and Telford,
Regeneration in the North Staffordshire Conurbation :
Master of the Strategic Flood Risk Assessment :
Protector of Natural Habitats : Contractor to Location
Appropriate Place-Making in the Shire Counties :
Financier : Manufacturer : Commissioner for Rural
Communities : Friend of the Social Landlord, the Old
And New Economies.

“I like that” said Offa, “SEA EU again”.**

* In the original poem a metaphorical King Offa is part-humorously invoked as the Genius Loci of Mercia/the West Midlands Region
** My poem is also an invocation to Offa, this time re-constructed as Contractor for Eco-Logical Infrastructure and Low-Carbon Development, and, indeed as “Sewer King” – re-calling the Fisher King of Ancient British and Anglo-Celtic Arthurian Myth – to allay the Welsh Assembly’s and others’ concerns about “Water Issues”.

24 June 2009

Further posts (3 & 16 June)  on King Offa & Mercian Hymns can be found @ http://witchofworcester.wordpress.com

Need for “SEA” Change amongst Sustainability & Environmental Activists

Now that the United States President and his First Lady have declared themselves “Activists”, the activist is once again a respectable member of society; and it is from this respectable position that I want to reflect on the relationship between sustainability and environmental activists.

On the radio recently – I think in the context of Severn Barrage Saga – the Chairman of the UK Commission for Sustainable Development (who support a barrage), Sir Jonathon Porritt, distinguished himself from “environmental activist” organisations like the Royal Society for the Protection of the Birds (who oppose a barrage), as, primarily, a “sustainability” activist.

For my own part, I have noticed a great many “sustainability suits” – many of them stuffed ! – in recent years and, I would suggest, quite a number of these work for and with the good Sir Jonathon, although I would not include him amongst them.

The fact is that those of us who are genuinely concerned about the future of the planet – and who are acting locally, as well as thinking globally – need to be both sustainability and environmental activists. A good starting point for this is some understanding of Sustainability Appraisal and Strategic Environmental Assessment or SEA.

An Olympic-sized Saving : End of the Road for Thames Gateway Bridge

Transport for London scraps plans for six-lane road bridge

London Mayor Boris Johnson scraps scheme amid strong opposition from environmental campaigners

• John Vidal and Dan Milmo
• From The Guardian, Thursday November 6 2008 11.48 GMT

One proposed design for the six-lane east London crossing

Boris Johnson, the London mayor, has shelved £3.5bn of transport schemes in the capital, including the Thames Gateway bridge, as part of multibillion-pound cost cuts.

Johnson said today the move ended the “deception” of his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, who had ordered officials to draw up plans for the Thames Gateway project amid strong opposition from environmental campaigners.

“I am stopping the deception of keeping hopes alive when there is no funding for these schemes,” said Johnson….

The Role of Licensed Activists

Whilst my previous blog may have seemed critical of “licensed activists”, I also believe that these can have an important role in influencing government policy, at home and abroad, as well as the conduct of large corporations, including those in public ownership

Ken Livingstone is probably the politician most adept at deploying political and community activists to his own political ends, and against one another when its suits him. However, some good policies have resulted from the former approach, particularly in the latter days of the Greater London Council (abolished by the Conservative Thatcher Government in 1986 – for those too young to remember, or old enough to forget).

The GLC’s transport policies – ie support for public transport, walking and cycling, and restraints on private car use and polluting vehicles – are a case in point. Over 20 years on, and some urban authorities in the regions and shires are only just catching up. Licensing a few more transport and environmental activists may be the best – including most cost-effective – way forward. Not that I’m saying the Mayor of London’s policies are perfect !

The Importance of Unlicensed Activists

I was once described by 2 representatives of a former consultancy client (and a very good one too !) as “subversive” and “an anarchist”. However, far from feeling affronted at these descriptions,  I took them as compliments. The client was a deeply political organisation (with a large and small “p”) and my unwillingness to adopt their politics, I regard as a consultancy strength, rather than a fault. Unfortunately, not all clients understand that some consultants are in the business of providing independent advice and professional services, and are not part of the monstrous regiment of yes people.

Now, having got that one off my chest I’d like to move on to the importance of unlicensed activists. The New Labour Government of Britain, like the current – but soon to be former – President of Russia, both support the work of licensed activists. By “licensed activists”, I mean people and organisations generally “in line” with the thinking of ruling elites. However, the government of Mr Putin tends to make this “policy” much more explicit than that of Mr Brown. This may in turn be a reason for some commentators identifying our Prime Minister’s “shadow side” with one of the Russian President’s predecessors.

Neither Mr Brown nor Mr Putin like “unlicensed activists” – and Mr Putin even less than Mr Brown by all accounts – by which I mean independent thinkers who challenge the thinking and values of ruling elites and their enactment in government policy. These gutsy girls and guys are those people beyond the “clientalism” of government funding and the likes. Yes, it does take guts to be domiciled outside this comfort zone, but the ethical, and, dare I say even spiritual, rewards can be great…for society. And yes, I do believe in the existence of society, unless you had the misfortune to live in Stalinist Russia, of course.