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Last weekend, thousands of people around the Australian state of Victoria gathered for memorial services to mark the first anniversary of the Victorian Bushfires, in which 173 people lost their lives. While a Royal Commission into the causes of the Black Saturday tragedy continues, efforts to rebuild …
Posted on Monday, 8th February 2010 | This entry has 0 comment(s)
There has been so much speculation and projection about the scale and impacts of future public austerity measures. It’s mostly pretty depressing stuff. Let me add to this! The literature on this subject has largely been silent on the possible impacts on rural people and places.
So, we in …
Posted on Friday, 22nd January 2010 | This entry has 2 comment(s)
How serious are we about asking the difficult questions about our futures and grappling with the issues they raise? I thought last week's Regeneration Momentum conference might offer some pointers. What it offered was in insight into how far we have to go - and a realisation that …
Posted on Tuesday, 19th January 2010 | This entry has 3 comment(s)
Why, given the failure of all Michael Heseltine’s prior efforts at regeneration, are we bringing him back to advise the Conservative Party on a ‘green paper’?
‘Failure’, I hear you exclaim, ‘but surely Hezza’s a regeneration superstar?’ Followed I guess by talking about intervening every verse end, clearing …
Posted on Monday, 18th January 2010 | This entry has 6 comment(s)
A few months ago I wrote about what we can learn from the US banking system (albeit a system that caused the global credit crunch and subsequent recession). Last week President Obama announced a new "financial crisis responsibility fee" to claw back some of the public funds …
Posted on Monday, 18th January 2010 | This entry has 0 comment(s)
There's an awful lot of advice out there at the moment, about how to cope with / take advantage of / simply survive the new economic and social climate (not to mention the environmental one) which we are assured we now all face.
Well, I'm sure it's true …
Posted on Sunday, 17th January 2010 | This entry has 0 comment(s)
Are Community Contracts just another in a long line of recycled ideas indicative of a deeper poverty of ambition at the heart of government?
Surely we have had similar pilots since at least the 1970s.
What immediately arises from the …
Posted on Wednesday, 13th January 2010 | This entry has 0 comment(s)
Unless you're a redneck, a dinosaur or a Pollyanna, you'll probably agree with the proposition that we need to reduce our collective impact on the environment.
If you're reading this, it's also probable that you're among the 20% of the world's population who between them use …
Posted on Wednesday, 13th January 2010 | This entry has 1 comment(s)
At a recent conference, I heard an otherwise sane academic tell us that the principles of regeneration – which were sound in the good times – will see us through the bad times.
What a delusion! Economic regeneration worked in part, but failed in some key areas. …
Posted on Thursday, 7th January 2010 | This entry has 16 comment(s)
Tim Henman may never have won Wimbledon, but the former world number four tennis player has made a mark on an even bigger British sporting event – the London 2012 Olympics.
You might remember that Aorangi Terrace, the Lawn Tennis Club's picnic spot, was dubbed Henman Hill after …
Posted on Wednesday, 6th January 2010 | This entry has 0 comment(s)
Interesting to read your discussion paper …
I agree with you about the probable cuts, move to on-line services, etc. But it would be nice to be a bit more specific – areas like affordable housing have risen up the agenda and could well be protected by either new …
Robert Bullard on 8th February 2010:
Austerity in rural England.... any glimmers in the darkness?
At least Heseltine showed some ability to learn from experience while involved in regeneration. He moved deftly from the heavy-handed UDCs to some of the early partnership approaches such as City Challenge. During New Labour we seem to have lost the ability to identify best practice, to apply it consistently …
Nick Bailey on 4th February 2010:
Why Heseltine is wrong man to lead on regeneration
I don’t wish to denigrate the stance taken by the individuals and organisations involved with improving rural communities, but some questions do spring to mind…
Firstly…the use of language is so important to enable participation at all levels, having been involved in community regeneration for almost 15 years, this is …
Bill McCallum on 4th February 2010:
Austerity in rural England.... any glimmers in the darkness?
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