Tranquil England...

[Nemesis]

From today's Heritage Link:

Where is the most tranquil place?

The new map reveals that England’s most tranquil region is the North East, and the most tranquil county is Northumberland followed by Cumbria and North Yorkshire. The least tranquil region is London and the South East and the least tranquil county is Surrey, followed by Cheshire and Hertfordshire.

Where exactly is the most tranquil place in England? CPRE knows but is not telling. It is, however, running a competition on its website, inviting people to guess the spot. If the winner identifies the exact location, she or he will be sworn to secrecy.

http://www.cpre.org.uk/campaigns/landscape-and-beauty/tranquillity/where-is-the-most-tranquil-place.asp

 

[Penners]

Do you think they would accept the nomination of our downstairs loo? It's a wonderfully quiet place to sit and contemplate.... er...whatever one contemplates at moments like that.

Damn! I've given away the secret!

 

[Nemesis]

Come oop north Penners - there is real tranquility! Apart from where I am...

 

[Penners]

Come oop north Penners

Why would I need to? I'm in heavenly, peaceful, tranquil, bucolic Suffolk.

 

[Nemesis]

Not as heavenly as oop north, apparently...

 

[biffvernon]

Eviction of Dalston Theatre, Public Assembly this Sunday
5th November at the peace mural (in the little square
opposite 4 Dalston Lane) for a public assembly at 6 p.m.


----- Start Forwarded Message -----

Hello,

The 3 houses adjoining Dalston theatre, occupied since February this year
to prevent the planned demolition of the whole site to make way for high
rise luxury flats, were evicted at 5am on Wednesday night. Despite having
mounted solid barricades throughout the building and kept up regular roof
shifts to keep a look-out for the bailiffs, they entered the building via
the back of the building, accessing the roof before the occupiers had the
chance to effectively resist the eviction.

While the time for the theatre has run out, for us this is not the end
of the battle, but only the beginning. Just as the gentrification of
Hackney doesn't end with the demolition of the theatre, so our attempts to
work together with women, men, young people, elderly, and all
people who are suffering the consequences of plans of "regeneration"
that don't take our future into account, will not end here.
We probably all feel doubtful about our chances of winning against the
council or government agency that, sooner or later, always manage to get
away with their plans. We are just frustrated spectators in our land
witnessing everything getting worse, lack of housing and services,
lack of health, lack of schools, lack of work, unemployment,
criminalization of youth, racism towards ethnic minorities, the
destruction of our culture and our history.
We can't accept business as usual. To stand still is to admit defeat. To
stand still is to go backward. To stand still is to succumb to the kind of
deprivation that we're witnessing. To stand up is to win, to not give up
is to win, to organize, to cooperate with each other is to win.

We ask the whole population of Dalston and Hackney, of every color,
race, creed, those who are already members of organizations,
associations, groups, and everyone else who feels affected in any
way by irresponsible plans for regeneration, to gather with us this
coming Sunday 5th November at the peace mural (in the little square
opposite 4 Dalston Lane) for a public assembly at 6 p.m. It will be an
open space for everyone to talk together and listen to each other about
the ways that the councils plans for `regeneration affect us all, and to
talk together about ways of organising our community for the benefit of
everyone, and ways in which we can prevent more buildings being sold off
for the benefit of the few, a process that will not stop unless we stand
up together to prevent the destruction of our community.
We will continue with the activities we hold in the square every Sunday:
From 4 p.m. Vegan food will be available under the banner "FOOD
not BOMBS" and from 8.30 p.m. we will project documentaries that tell
the story of social struggles from around the world.

We will also be opening a new space in the local area as soon as we can to
carry on with the community project we initiated in February. Anyone
interested in helping out with getting the new space ready, or working
with us once its opened, please come along to chat to us on sunday, or
reply to this e-mail address.

In solidarity

E4e
everything4everyone@riseup.net


----- End Forwarded Message -----


Diggers350 - an e-mail discussion/information-share list for campaigners involved with THE LAND IS OURS landrights network (based in the UK ..web ref. http://www.thelandisours.org). The list was originally concerned with the 350th anniversary of The Diggers (& still is concerned with their history). The Diggers appeared at the end of the English Civil war with a mission to make the earth 'a common treasury for all'. In the spring of 1999 there were celebrations to remember the Diggers vision and their contribution. Find out more about the Diggers and see illustrations at: http://www.bilderberg.org/diggers.htm

 

[Nemesis]

I posted about it earlier - in the Dalston update.

The Dalston people are considering an injunction, pending the Sec of State's decison.

http://periodpropertyshop.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6823


I'm not feeling too tranquil about a great deal!

Dan C featured all this in his Betjeman prog.

 

[Nemesis]

Today's Heritage Link:

Local Government White Paper

On 26th October the Department for Communities and Local Government published its new vision of local government, the long awaited Strong and Prosperous Communities - The Local Government White Paper.

'Our vision is of revitalised local authorities, working with their partners, to reshape public services around the citizens and communities that use them.'

Proposals under the section Responsive Services and Empowered Communities include strengthening the ability of councillors to act as champions for their community via a new Community Call for Action. This will give local people a more powerful voice to question decisions taken by their council, with councillors able to raise all issues from housing, to leisure facilities to waste management with a Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee on residents' behalf. This will bring all council services in line with proposed Home Office legislation on community safety.

The White Paper also promotes better and timelier information on the quality of local services, including annual publication of local authorities' performance against national outcome indicators and a set of indicators on citizen satisfaction.

Particularly notable in a heritage context is the review of barriers to increasing community management and ownership of under-used local community assets so that these better serve local communities, with a new fund to support local authorities refurbishing assets for transfer to community groups. This follows the ODPM Report Community Ownership and Management of Assets.

The White Paper has nine chapters and annexes covering responsive services and empowered communities, effective, accountable and responsive local government, strong cities and strategic regions, local government as strategic leader and place-shaper, performance framework, efficiency in transforming local services and community cohesion.

The webpage http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1137789 has links to all documents, including those published alongside the White Paper, such as the regulatory impact assessment for the white paper, consultation responses on local strategic partnerships and inspection, and related research papers. Back

LGA comment on White Paper

Commenting on the Local Government White Paper, Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, the Chairman of the Local Government Association, which represents more than 400 councils in England and Wales found the White Paper 'encouraging' and a significant step on long road to devolution. 'The White Paper reflects the growing confidence in, and competence of, local government and the belief that the best way to deliver the best services to local people is at a local level.'

On the White Paper proposals on the community and voluntary sector, he added

'The voluntary and community sector plays a considerable role in developing the ability of local people to participate in society, local democracy and decision-making both through direct participation and as their representatives. Many local authorities have devolved and set up Service Level Agreements with voluntary and community organisations for a wide range of their work including social issues, work training and environmental enhancement. For its part, the voluntary and community sector needs to do more to address the challenges associated with governance, probity and financial stewardship for smaller voluntary organisations and less formally established community groups.'

The LGA will be working both with central departments and with other partner organisations in follow up work to the White Paper, including the Regional Development Agencies, the Learning and Skills Council, Confederation of British Industry, National Council of Voluntary Organisations, Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, the NHS Confederation and the National Association of Voluntary and Community Action. Back

Heritage Link says Make Consultation Really Matter

In response to the Local Government White Paper Heritage Link publishes the full report of its research Making Consultation Matter. If constructive participation is to be realised through this White Paper, the issues arising for planning consultation experience need to be addressed.

Anthea Case Chairman of Heritage Link said 'The country is fortunate in having a lively and enthusiastic network of community groups to stand up for our heritage and the local environment. Heritage Link urges central and local government to involve them more in the planning decisions that affect all our lives.'

Heritage Link's research gathered through nearly 200 local groups in 2005 indicates serious concerns that local planning authorities lack the staff, skills, capacity and experience to deal effectively with Government expectations for community involvement. Heritage groups want to be involved. 52% believe they can make a positive difference to the quality of local and regional planning outcomes. But Highways Proposal consultations were perceived as the least satisfactory with consultations on Regional Spatial Strategies also scoring very low.

Heritage Link has written to potential partners to enlist support to implement a range of recommendations: to DCLG over the potential of the Local Government White Paper to improve participation and to use the Planning Delivery Grant to support the related skills and competencies required by local government.

Published on 31st October, the Full Report undertaken by Heritage Link's Land-Use Planning Working Group was produced with support from English Heritage to inform Heritage Counts 2006. In addition to the Full Report, responses from the national, regional and local societies are catalogued in the Appendices.

See http://www.heritagelink.org.uk/docs/MCM_full.pdf and http://www.heritagelink.org.uk/docs/MCM_ReportAppendices.pdf Back

 

[Nemesis]

More about tranquility:

CPRE maps Tranquillity

The Campaign to Protect Rural England unveiled a new way of measuring and mapping countryside tranquillity, challenging the public to use its new maps and act to prevent further erosion.

CPRE's new map shows, in detail and across England, how likely the local surroundings are to make a visitor feel tranquil. The spectrum of colours ranges from deep red within towns and cities and along major roads shading through orange and yellow to a rich green in the most unspoilt areas of deep countryside with big views and little man-made noise.

'Our new mapping method gives us a practical, reliable method of showing where tranquil places can still be found' said Shaun Spiers, Director of CPRE. 'This is the start of our campaign to persuade national and local government, planners, developers, business, and public bodies to start using it, in order to safeguard tranquil areas for the future and even enhance them. And we want people to use our new maps to campaign for tranquillity in their local countryside.'

CPRE identifies the threats as new buildings and infrastructure, growing traffic and expanding roads, airtraffic expansion and light pollution.

Finding tranquillity in the countryside matters deeply to people, CPRE claims. National and local maps can be found at

http://www.cpre.org.uk/campaigns/landscape-and-beauty/tranquillity/national-and-regional-tranquilllity-maps.htm

 

[Nemesis]

Lots of tranquil pics of oop north here:


http://www.lakedistrictdesktops.com/

and e-cards to send:

http://www.naturepostcards.com/england/lakes.htm

 

[Penners]

The CPRE maps are very interesting. They seem to prove conclusively that the countryside is more tranquil than the towns and cities.

Astonishing! :?

 

[biffvernon]

Ooh, I live in a dark green bit.

 

[Penners]

Ooh, I live in a dark green bit.

Do you think those of us in the green bits should call ourselves Treens?

 

[biffvernon]

Treens?

 

[Nemesis]

Still, all this open space and tranquility may be about to vanish.

http://www.saynotowindfarm.co.uk/


(the building on the left is Listed at Grade I, the church Grade II)

http://www.mausolea-monuments.org.uk/home.php?admin_page=gazetteer&ref_id=440ee18978446

Here's the church, in the care of the CCT:

http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/GazatteerMain.htm



The construction slide show is interesting.

http://www.windbyte.co.uk/links.html

 

[Penners]

Treens?

Yup - the Treens were green.

By that I mean that their skin pigmentation was green - not that they recycled their newspapers. In fact, it's arguable that the Mekon's unfettered use of his antigravity boat was a flagrant waste of energy.

 

[Nemesis]

Oh - I thought treen was wooden bits and bobs, of historic interest.

Like the Woodentops.

 

[Penners]

Good grief - did nobody on this forum read The Eagle?


(Maybe I'm forgetting my age....)

 

[Nemesis]

Ere we go...

http://www.antiquetools.co.uk/treen.html

 

[Nemesis]

My bruv did... but I read School Friend and Girls' Crystal...