Leading a balanced way forward through the new reality

By admin on February 7, 2012

This is the final article in the series by Keith Mitchell, Chairman of Peter Brett Associates.  In previous articles he has set out his diagnosis of the problem a sustainable approach to economic growth and sustainable development the implications for localism the importance of infrastructure  leadership So far, we have examined the interlinked issues of [...]

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Delivering Sustainable Economic Growth – the need for leadership

By admin on February 6, 2012

Keith Mitchell, Chairman of Peter Brett Associates, has been thinking seriously about how we can make progress on regeneration and growth. He has set out his diagnosis of the problem a sustainable approach to economic growth and sustainable development the implications for localism the importance of infrastructure  Here is the fifth of the series of [...]

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Delivering Infrastructure

By admin on January 28, 2012

Keith Mitchell, Chairman of Peter Brett Associates, has been thinking seriously about how we can make progress on regeneration and growth. He has set out his diagnosis of the problem a sustainable approach to economic growth and sustainable development the implications for localism Here is the fourth of the series of articles. So far, we [...]

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Delivering Localism and Economic Growth

By admin on January 20, 2012

Keith Mitchell, Chairman of Peter Brett Associates, has been thinking seriously about how we can make progress on regeneration and growth. He has set out his diagnosis of the problem a sustainable approach to economic growth and sustainable development  Here is the third of the series of articles. In the last article, we examined the [...]

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Understanding the legacy of housing market renewal

By admin on January 13, 2012

One of the major topics of debate during the Select Committee inquiry was the fate of the Housing Market renewal programme. It was a significant intervention in its own right and its very swift closure was seen as symptomatic of the wider approach of the new government to regeneration. The Chairs of the Pathfinder projects [...]

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Delivering Economic Growth and Sustainable Development?

By admin on January 11, 2012

Keith Mitchell, Chairman of Peter Brett Associates,  has been giving some serious thought about how we can make progress on regeneration and growth. He set out his diagnosis of the problem in the first article. Here is the second of the series of articles. In the first article, we looked at some of the causes [...]

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How the regeneration sector can lead the way

By admin on January 4, 2012

Keith Mitchell, Chairman of Peter Brett Associates, has been thinking seriously  about how we can make progress on regeneration and growth. In the first of a series of articles he sets the context. A Dysfunctional Society? A Dysfunctional Economy? Over the last few months we have seen riots on the streets of our cities, and [...]

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Relentless optimists push forward

By paul on November 24, 2011

Regeneration has always been a task for the relentless optimist. UK Regeneration is gearing up for the next major push forward. Action is needed on a broad front, especially after the disappointment of the Select Committee Report. Tackling the Government Whatever we think of the Select Committee’s report the Government will still have to make [...]

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A big disappointment

By admin on November 3, 2011

  The Select Committee published its report on regeneration today. Here is what Jackie had to say in her Estates Gazette blog.  What a disappointment. What a waste of time, money and energy. Worst of all, what a wasted opportunity. We had such high hopes.  After long campaigning to rescue regeneration from oblivion at the [...]

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Regeneration and planning

By admin on November 2, 2011

We continued to take part in the debate about the National Planning Policy framework. At the UKR Forum we have a very interesting session which we called “Sanity from Hysteria”. It would have been fascinating to spend more time on it but we concluded that we should adopt our usual rigorous approach and focus on [...]

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It’s up to all of us

By admin on October 18, 2011

Peter Bishop, ably assisted by the team at Design Council Cabe, has produced an excellent report. We will comment on the detail and stimulate some more debate over the next few days. But one thing stands out clearly because it chimes with everything else we have been saying over the last few weeks: It is [...]

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Five principles for Building a Better Britain

Five principles for Building a Better Britain

By admin on August 14, 2011

How should those of us concerned with regeneration react to unrest on the streets and turbulence in the financial markets? The prime minister and the mayor of London returned from holiday with the aim of visibly restoring order. “Action this day,” was Churchill’s mantra. Belatedly, perhaps, but that was the political objective this week, too. [...]

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UKR reacts to the unrest and riots

UKR reacts to the unrest and riots

By admin on August 9, 2011

Jackie Sadek, Chief Executive of UK Regeneration(UKR) gives her reaction to the unrest and riots seen across London and the UK and argues that the long term task of regenerating communities must not be deflected by the events of the last few days. Jackie Sadek (UKR CEO) said: “We had hoped not to see history [...]

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Kick start (vb)

January 13, 2011

a generally vain attempt to get something immovable to move, with a large amount of hubris and publicity, and few obvious or measurable results. The kick, applied without due care, can have the opposite effect to that intended and bring it to a final and permanent halt.

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To 'win' planning consent

February 12, 2012

Exactly when planning consents ceased to be granted, and begun to be 'won', is difficult to establish, but it there does seem to be a telling alignment with the arrival and ascendance of 'X Factor' and similar TV shows . Reports that DCLG are considering adopting a phone -in celebrity-led system of planning decision making as part of a new neighbourhood approach 'to make planning more exciting', have not been denied by Ministers, although stories that Simon Cowell might be enobled in the next Honours List to take charge of this are as yet unconfirmed

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Thames Gateway (n)

January 13, 2011

A slightly silly name (how can a gateway be 40 miles long ?) for a blameless and still largely unknown part of the south east where the standard of living is shockingly below the rest of the region for a surprisingly large proportion of the 1.5m population, and which, with thoughtful long term planning and investment could become a much better and more attractive place to live and relieve the development pressure on other more congested locations elsewhere; but which had the misfortune to become a focus of Government action, and a battleground between ill informed brownfield romantics, development fetishists, regeneration fantasists and disaster junkies.

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S106

February 12, 2012

A largely futile attempt by planners to get developers to cough up for all the glamorous things the developers promised at the time of the application but had no intention or capacity to deliver. Often part of an attempt by planners to pre-empt a revised planning application.

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Win (vb)

January 13, 2011

As in to 'win' a planning consent: to receive permission in the normal way, usually for a particularly meretricious proposal from a particularly desperate planning authority. Rumours that the new National Planning Framework, trailed in the Localism Bill, will introduce a 'Strictly' style talent show format into the process are as yet unfounded.

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Urban village (n)

January 13, 2011

A collection of residential blocks even more tightly packed than usual, and generally to be found in improbable locations hitherto deemed unfit for human habitation (cf Millennium Village, Olympic Village)

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Market failure

January 20, 2011

(n) a useful term generally deployed in a fairly indiscriminate way when attempting to attract or justify public funds. In fact, as classical economists will tell us, markets neither fail or succeed, they simply operate, with varying levels of efficiency, in the interests of those with the greatest market power - i.e. those with the resources, or 'the rich'. Paradoxically therefore, poor areas are not the consequence of market failure, because other  areas are doing very well out of the same market process. The regeneration solution to this is not environmental improvements, but social revolution, but this has yet to be introduced into the Treasury Green book process.

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