‘Never before has the countryside been invaded by so many objects, nor by constructions comparable in size to modern power stations, hydro-electric schemes and airfields. The new map consists of the immense constructions of the oil refineries, the nuclear reactors and power stations, and, radiating from them, the treat latticed towers and overhead lines of the electricity grid.‘
My reading over the holidays was Dame Sylvia Crowe’s The Landscape of Power, published in 1958 when the first generation of nuclear power stations was being built and many other major infrastructure schemes planned. That entire generation of structures and networks is coming towards the end of its life, and last October the government published a National Infrastructure Plan setting out the huge scale of major infrastructure projects the UK will need over the next few years if it is to continue to function as an advanced country. The total price tag is in the region of £200bn.
The debate about the route of the new London-Birmingham High Speed Rail has already started, Crossrail is going ahead, and the Infrastructure Planning Commission has dozens of major projects on its books. Every one of these projects will have a major impact on the landscape and its use, and every one will require expert input from landscape architects.
It therefore seemed an appropriate time to refer to what Dame Sylvia had to say. If the country is not to be cursed with a new generation of ugly, intrusive and inappropriate schemes, the involvement of landscape architects will be of critical importance. The LI is taking part in a national symposium on future electricity networks and is also involved in discussions with the National Grid. There will certainly be more to report on this topic later in the year.
The first thing to hit my desk after the New Year was a copy of ‘Why Invest in Landscape’, our new campaign leaflet which will find its way to you in a few weeks' time together with your magazine. The leaflet has six current case studies showing how the involvement of landscape architects in a project added value to the bottom line for developers and other clients.
I am very pleased that we have published this because I see it as a useful antidote to a certain reticence about discussing money. There are always plenty of landscape architects who want to talk about how their work improves health, wellbeing, quality of life and other ‘worthy intangibles’, but I am quite certain that if we are to equip LI members as effectively as possible to promote their services to prospective clients, we need a rather more hard-headed approach.
What this leaflet does is show how clients of various sorts, with projects at various scales, have ended up better off as a result of engaging a landscape architect. I hope that practices will use them as part of their own promotional mix and we will be printing an ample supply so that if you want additional copies for you office, to send out to business contacts or for other reasons, please contact my colleagues Jim Riches and we will send you as many as you need.
A Happy and prosperous New Year to all.