Friday, 29 July 2011
Ludlow and Prudhoe
Last night a new BBC2 programme from Nick Crane looked at the 10,000 strong community of Ludlow. Apparently very different to Prudhoe but listen to it, the parallels are clear. One of the mini-stories, Tesco. The community fought for eight years to get the supermarket they were prepared to have. Tesco finally agreed to a unique design fitting the parameters of the site. It can be done. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012zy8d
Monday, 25 July 2011
Another public meeting about the town centre?
Once again the divisions within Prudhoe about the proposed new town centre are writ large in last Friday's Hexham Courant. It is front page news and there is an editorial which I would sign up to totally. The development is that the Mayor of Prudhoe has found a mechanism whereby a public meeting can be called at which the County Planning Committe will have to listen to further comments. Trying to be a spectator rather than a partizan is a bit challenging but here goes with some thoughts.
Clearly the Planning Committee do not welcome this development. That is unfortunate. One would think they would welcome every opportunity to re-assure those concerned. It would be unfortunate as well if the meeting takes place "next month" which is August when many people will be on holiday. To be fair to everyone the meeting should take place as soon as possible once the schools return. For it to appear rushed through when many people are away would again suggest this is not genuine consultation. The comments made about the Police also appear unfortunate. To so directly anticipate trouble is not to encourage law abiding citizens like myself to wish to attend.
It will be obvious for those most disadvantaged directly by the new scheme to make comment. I feel for anyone in Cranleigh Gardens, Neale Street and the other areas where this development will "look down" on their properties. They have real objections. Even so I think the best way to make inroads on the Planning Committee members will be to show how within its own terms the application is unsatisfactory. I have heard of numerous detailed aspects of this and no doubt these will come out.
However I would advocate keep it simple and direct. The multi storey car park, the new road onto Station Bank, the restrictive covenants on the new shops, these to my mind are all strong cards about why the present proposal does not lead to a good outcome.
There is also a message to those who may support the scheme. There are probably four people who really can influence the outcome of all this. The Duke himself. The Chairman of the Prudhoe Community Partnership who also happens to be the vicar. There are two members of Northumberland County Council from Prudhoe. Coun. Bill Garrett is a member of the planning committee and may not express a view before the determination. Coun. Neil Bradbury may, and he has expressed a view. He is broadly in favour of a regeneration project.
What is my message to them? At a personal level I do believe in a town centre development, this blog has outlined ways in which it could be done before. The Hanging Gardens of Prudhoe strapline. Yet where have we got today? The Town Council voted 4/3 against. The Mayor clearly feels that she will risk her reputation by insisting on another public meeting which unless it powerfully demonstrates the opposition that there really is will backfire. In other words and as the Courant has shown for weeks, the town is completely divided. Probably somewhere in the 60/40 area either way. If this last sentence is correct a fascinating question then becomes, how do the two County Councillors represent this?
If I was any of these four people - and certainly if I was the vicar - I could not vote for anything which had become so divisive. Personally I hope that this now anticipated meeting never takes place and that Prudhoe ceases washing its dirty linen in the Courant. I hope that the principals who really can make a difference would work together. The probable outcome to keep the peace in this town would be to recognise that the application as it is should not go forward. It should be back to the drawing board with a determination to produce a proposal really born from within the community and partnered by the skills shown at Alnwick Garden to produce a development that truly excited those who live on our wonderful and beautiful hillside. Outlines of the project are here.
Clearly the Planning Committee do not welcome this development. That is unfortunate. One would think they would welcome every opportunity to re-assure those concerned. It would be unfortunate as well if the meeting takes place "next month" which is August when many people will be on holiday. To be fair to everyone the meeting should take place as soon as possible once the schools return. For it to appear rushed through when many people are away would again suggest this is not genuine consultation. The comments made about the Police also appear unfortunate. To so directly anticipate trouble is not to encourage law abiding citizens like myself to wish to attend.
It will be obvious for those most disadvantaged directly by the new scheme to make comment. I feel for anyone in Cranleigh Gardens, Neale Street and the other areas where this development will "look down" on their properties. They have real objections. Even so I think the best way to make inroads on the Planning Committee members will be to show how within its own terms the application is unsatisfactory. I have heard of numerous detailed aspects of this and no doubt these will come out.
However I would advocate keep it simple and direct. The multi storey car park, the new road onto Station Bank, the restrictive covenants on the new shops, these to my mind are all strong cards about why the present proposal does not lead to a good outcome.
There is also a message to those who may support the scheme. There are probably four people who really can influence the outcome of all this. The Duke himself. The Chairman of the Prudhoe Community Partnership who also happens to be the vicar. There are two members of Northumberland County Council from Prudhoe. Coun. Bill Garrett is a member of the planning committee and may not express a view before the determination. Coun. Neil Bradbury may, and he has expressed a view. He is broadly in favour of a regeneration project.
What is my message to them? At a personal level I do believe in a town centre development, this blog has outlined ways in which it could be done before. The Hanging Gardens of Prudhoe strapline. Yet where have we got today? The Town Council voted 4/3 against. The Mayor clearly feels that she will risk her reputation by insisting on another public meeting which unless it powerfully demonstrates the opposition that there really is will backfire. In other words and as the Courant has shown for weeks, the town is completely divided. Probably somewhere in the 60/40 area either way. If this last sentence is correct a fascinating question then becomes, how do the two County Councillors represent this?
If I was any of these four people - and certainly if I was the vicar - I could not vote for anything which had become so divisive. Personally I hope that this now anticipated meeting never takes place and that Prudhoe ceases washing its dirty linen in the Courant. I hope that the principals who really can make a difference would work together. The probable outcome to keep the peace in this town would be to recognise that the application as it is should not go forward. It should be back to the drawing board with a determination to produce a proposal really born from within the community and partnered by the skills shown at Alnwick Garden to produce a development that truly excited those who live on our wonderful and beautiful hillside. Outlines of the project are here.
Monday, 18 July 2011
Friday, 1 July 2011
Prudhoe's town centre, the community partnership and the Courant
For week after week, Tynedale's local paper the Hexham Courant has carried on an ongoing debate about these matters. I have kept out of it. The problem is that it reads more like a slanging match than a debate and it is a truly sad position for a town of 12,000+ to have reached. The Courant is out again today and the argument is continued. Last week's shock news was that the Prudhoe Community Partnership's website had been taken down after person(s) unknown had hacked it adversely.
One thing I can be sure about. That event was completely uncalled for and does no-one in a small town any good whatsoever. Over recent weeks as I wander about I have quietly and at an anecdotal level sought out views. One way to put it is to look up above where I live and ask the question, how would I feel if a multi storey car park was appearing above my house? This is the prospect for residents of the Castlefield estate. I cannot avoid saying I would not be very happy.
Search my blog and several entries about the development have been made. I have tried to be positive about it. I can see ways in which the area concerned can be redeveloped to the great credit of Prudhoe and in a manner which will really draw people here. I also will go on record as applauding the work which the Prudhoe Community Partnership has done. It has played a vital role in the Prudhoe Transport Interchange and in the Cockshott Dene renewal. It is now going forward with an exciting multi purpose build on the library site.
Many good things have happened in Prudhoe and many more could in the future. But I caution all involved in the future of the town, stay cool, listen to what your opponent is saying, seek to find the common ground and work on it. Everyone has to live together here and with the consequences of whatever may be built and do not get involved in cyber war!
For more information click. A view completely independent of my own but very pertinent to the matter is expressed here.
One thing I can be sure about. That event was completely uncalled for and does no-one in a small town any good whatsoever. Over recent weeks as I wander about I have quietly and at an anecdotal level sought out views. One way to put it is to look up above where I live and ask the question, how would I feel if a multi storey car park was appearing above my house? This is the prospect for residents of the Castlefield estate. I cannot avoid saying I would not be very happy.
Search my blog and several entries about the development have been made. I have tried to be positive about it. I can see ways in which the area concerned can be redeveloped to the great credit of Prudhoe and in a manner which will really draw people here. I also will go on record as applauding the work which the Prudhoe Community Partnership has done. It has played a vital role in the Prudhoe Transport Interchange and in the Cockshott Dene renewal. It is now going forward with an exciting multi purpose build on the library site.
Many good things have happened in Prudhoe and many more could in the future. But I caution all involved in the future of the town, stay cool, listen to what your opponent is saying, seek to find the common ground and work on it. Everyone has to live together here and with the consequences of whatever may be built and do not get involved in cyber war!
For more information click. A view completely independent of my own but very pertinent to the matter is expressed here.
Friday, 17 June 2011
Some aphrorisms
Years ago, the questing spiritual side of me started "writing". For a while it was a page on my own website. I took it down when we had Clare. I was too busy to want to deal with "hassle" that my troublesome views might engender. But I carry on writing in a genre that is simply me and as soon as you label it morphs. Over on Facebook some of our photo captions hint at it. I wonder if the blog can stand any of it. Here are some short aphorisms which started the old page.
_________________________________________________
The transforming power of love
Appears to me the only basis
By which the Church and Christ
May re-establish themselves.
==========================================
Academic research
should not be a methodology
but a drama.
=========================================
If the world cannot order itself
To treat its citizens aright
Is it my fault if I cannot cope with it?
=========================================
What makes humanity?
That we can do things better.
What might be grace?
When things are done better.
=========================================
If Society does not owe you a job
What do you owe Society?
========================================
I would rather be my wife's sex slave
than anyone else's wage slave.
========================================
If Fiona was all gold and mine
I would weep with bitterness.
I should rather die prematurely
than get divorced.
=======================================
1+1=1
1+1=2
1+1=3
Discuss in what circumstances these statements might be true.
=======================================
Man has always sought a virtual world.
It is the religious driver.
=======================================
Women priests are a Biblical impossibility
So also is homosexual marriage.
Grant one and the other might follow.
Two perversities for the conservative.
Why should Christ's grace not liberate us
From the strictures of gender?
===========================================
The price of freedom in creation is the price of pain
However for many that may seem a price
Too heavy for the reward.
A disturbing discovery is that Nature bullies.
Vulcanism and glaciation were hardly man's fault.
==========================================
_________________________________________________
The transforming power of love
Appears to me the only basis
By which the Church and Christ
May re-establish themselves.
==========================================
Academic research
should not be a methodology
but a drama.
=========================================
If the world cannot order itself
To treat its citizens aright
Is it my fault if I cannot cope with it?
=========================================
What makes humanity?
That we can do things better.
What might be grace?
When things are done better.
=========================================
If Society does not owe you a job
What do you owe Society?
========================================
I would rather be my wife's sex slave
than anyone else's wage slave.
========================================
If Fiona was all gold and mine
I would weep with bitterness.
I should rather die prematurely
than get divorced.
=======================================
1+1=1
1+1=2
1+1=3
Discuss in what circumstances these statements might be true.
=======================================
Man has always sought a virtual world.
It is the religious driver.
=======================================
Women priests are a Biblical impossibility
So also is homosexual marriage.
Grant one and the other might follow.
Two perversities for the conservative.
Why should Christ's grace not liberate us
From the strictures of gender?
===========================================
The price of freedom in creation is the price of pain
However for many that may seem a price
Too heavy for the reward.
A disturbing discovery is that Nature bullies.
Vulcanism and glaciation were hardly man's fault.
==========================================
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Lie
When we both realise
we might be living a lie
then we might make
some progress
said
the catholic to the protestant
the believer to the unbeliever
the christian to the muslim
the woman to the man
the communist to the capitalist
the straight to the gay
we might be living a lie
then we might make
some progress
said
the catholic to the protestant
the believer to the unbeliever
the christian to the muslim
the woman to the man
the communist to the capitalist
the straight to the gay
Monday, 16 May 2011
When good is not good enough.
The Prudhoe redevelopment debate rumbles on. It has been previously explored at http://robertatforsythe.blogspot.com/2010/10/hanging-gardens-of-prudhoe-aka-prudhoe.html . Two things brought it back into view for me. I took this photo and the Hexham Courant appeared last Friday 13th May 2011. I think it was the previous one that contained a long anti letter. This time the first two letters at some prominent length reflected the views of one anti and one pro campaigner. Both are well known citizens of the town. As I read them a sense of profound disappointment passed over me. Here were the good citizens of Prudhoe washing their dirty linen in public and in best Glasgow Edinburgh fashion it was a Hexham organ that was able to delight in our discomfort. The quality of argument in the letters was not especially good and rather it felt as if in the exhaustion of the saga mud slinging had become the last resort.
This then is what our landlord has achieved. The total division and polarisation of the community. It is not me who judges it thus. Read these letters in the Courant and make your own minds up. But I will clearly say why I think this had happened and should the Duke of Northumberland read this, I hope he will be hot under the collar. One man wields for the 21st. century an unusual amount of power in this town of 12,000. He is answerable to not one of us but he is the person who can set the tone of the new town centre. Here then is where our heading phrase comes from. When good is not good enough. My wife tells a tale of the institution where once she ran library services. A new supreme manager arrived. A department head had to speak to a proposal. He started out by saying "this is a good proposal". Before he went any further the boss interjected "that is not my style, good is not good enough for me, take it away and come back when it is excellent". A lot of pain followed this person's arrival at this institution but years later both the institution and that individual continue to thrive and gain recognition.
This should have been the story at Prudhoe. The plot was simple. A growing hillside town in Northumberland surrounded by woodland and beautiful landscape. One last green space left in the centre of the town. It would clearly face developmental pressure. The person who owned it has come to national prominence with the Alnwick Garden. Expecting that a marriage of the two would equal excellence is natural. But what Prudhoe is having foisted on it is just good. Would you even award good to the people who will be remembered for having built the first multi storey car park in Tynedale? Yes, not dug underground into a hillside but sprouting out from it in as prominent a place as you might imagine. Is it any wonder that aside from the business mechanics of this, aside from the supermarket rivalries (we already have a Co-Op superstore), aside from my gripe that we still will not have an independent butcher, aside from this, that what looks like something from the 1970s or 1980s, (perhaps from the Duke's Cramlington development?) translated to this magnificent hillside has succeeded in dividing the community? At the last count the town council voted against 4/3. There are many 1000s of objections lodged from a community of 12,500. It is a very sad situation and it could and should have been avoided. What would have done that is inspired leadership from the top. A thorough going committment to the Hanging Gardens of Prudhoe which would have left the community itching to see it happening instead of preparing for a Friday public brawl.
This then is what our landlord has achieved. The total division and polarisation of the community. It is not me who judges it thus. Read these letters in the Courant and make your own minds up. But I will clearly say why I think this had happened and should the Duke of Northumberland read this, I hope he will be hot under the collar. One man wields for the 21st. century an unusual amount of power in this town of 12,000. He is answerable to not one of us but he is the person who can set the tone of the new town centre. Here then is where our heading phrase comes from. When good is not good enough. My wife tells a tale of the institution where once she ran library services. A new supreme manager arrived. A department head had to speak to a proposal. He started out by saying "this is a good proposal". Before he went any further the boss interjected "that is not my style, good is not good enough for me, take it away and come back when it is excellent". A lot of pain followed this person's arrival at this institution but years later both the institution and that individual continue to thrive and gain recognition.
This should have been the story at Prudhoe. The plot was simple. A growing hillside town in Northumberland surrounded by woodland and beautiful landscape. One last green space left in the centre of the town. It would clearly face developmental pressure. The person who owned it has come to national prominence with the Alnwick Garden. Expecting that a marriage of the two would equal excellence is natural. But what Prudhoe is having foisted on it is just good. Would you even award good to the people who will be remembered for having built the first multi storey car park in Tynedale? Yes, not dug underground into a hillside but sprouting out from it in as prominent a place as you might imagine. Is it any wonder that aside from the business mechanics of this, aside from the supermarket rivalries (we already have a Co-Op superstore), aside from my gripe that we still will not have an independent butcher, aside from this, that what looks like something from the 1970s or 1980s, (perhaps from the Duke's Cramlington development?) translated to this magnificent hillside has succeeded in dividing the community? At the last count the town council voted against 4/3. There are many 1000s of objections lodged from a community of 12,500. It is a very sad situation and it could and should have been avoided. What would have done that is inspired leadership from the top. A thorough going committment to the Hanging Gardens of Prudhoe which would have left the community itching to see it happening instead of preparing for a Friday public brawl.
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