Nice to be asked to do the guest blog while Alastair is away, and lucky that it’s been such a busy week for the LI, giving me lots to talk about. Wednesday 9 October saw an Advisory Council meeting and the AGM – neither were the scintillating talking-shop one could hope for, but at least we’re all talking together. The big draw of the day was, of course, George Hargreaves for the inaugural Geoffrey Jellicoe lecture, and it was good to see so many people attend. What an amazing body of work George was able to display. There are not many people able to claim having had key input to two Olympic masterplans. Therefore disappointing, but perhaps also reassuring, that even he still has to explain to people what landscape architects do! His concept of ‘landscape in motion’ is definitely one that’s stuck with me, and great to hear someone with such enthusiasm for his work – almost matched by the enthusiasm with which all attacked the bar after the event. Putting together a good lecturer and free bar with the AGM is clearly an inspiration and an appropriate format for future years.
Liaison and consultation with government have been an important part of the week, with our response to the NPPF submitted and a meeting held with DCLG to discuss how we can contribute to government policy, and to press for a planning framework that helps deliver greener cities. All very positive in principle, but decisions on the NPPF are to be made quickly, so what confidence do we have that the inherent conflict between the NPPF and the government’s own White Papers on the environment will be resolved?
Tuesday last week saw the first LI CPD Day for many a long year, and what an excellent day it was too – fully booked, and the first chance for many to see our offices at Charles Darwin House. Having organised the speakers for the SuDS stream, I stayed with that for its four sessions and then listened to Mary O’Connor’s useful update on the revised GLVIA. A really diverse range of subjects were on offer, with several popular sessions repeated, so it was easy to get booked into what you wanted. A great atmosphere all day, with good audience participation, and a really positive sharing of knowledge and opinions. My only criticism would be the lack of coffee until after the second session! We had positive feedback after the event, so there are now plans to run these days in other locations in the Spring. Well worth booking early.
Great to hear that the Durham Heritage Coast scheme received a ‘Special Mention’ for its transformation from ‘black beach’ to ‘beauty’ in the Council of Europe Landscape Awards – although we had of course hoped to win! It's hard to compare the wide range of projects that were competing for the award, but the result was a major achievement and clearly shows how commitment to change can make such an extraordinary difference in a relatively small number of years.
Alastair McCapra is away.