Town Planners On Location

What was the most exciting project you've worked on?

In my career, I've been fortunate that I've worked at the development/implementation arm of planning. I had responsibilities for strategic policies as well of course, but throughout my career, development/ implementation have either been in my job title or it was there in my job description. So, when I worked in Newcastle in the first nine years of my career, I was Central Area Officer at the time when the Eldon Square development was taking shape and I gave the public inquiry and I negotiated the development agreement. And, some of the things that I tried to get into the scheme didn't happen at the time. I, in a way, lost the arguments. But, in the agreement, I put in various things that would enable that to take place at a later time. So 10 years on the first regeneration of the project refurbishment, and some of the things I put into the development agreement were actually happening, which I was delighted to see. When I worked in Portsmouth, there were a number of regeneration projects that I went there to do, and one of the different projects was a marina development. And I had no background experience in the marinas at all. But what was proposed was not simply something boat-related, but a mixed use and it was a very complicated package of proposals to put together. Both from the City Council's point of view who were landowners as well as planning authority, but from the development team who had to work with the consortium, because developers tend to specialize in individual types of projects, and here was a proposal brewing it together, mixed use. One of the early proposals of mixed use. And it's interesting now to go back to developments like that and see people sitting out, enjoying a cup of coffee, taking in the waterfront and enjoying the ambience and the atmosphere. And occasionally you'll pass by somebody who says, "its wonderful here." or "Never knew about this. This is wonderful." I once sat on a bus, there were two ladies sat behind me with their shopping bags. They'd obviously spent an enjoyable day in the local shopping center, and their view was that it wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for the store operators. They didn't realize what its origins were in the sense of what went before and how it was replaced. They were talking about the Cascades Development, of course. So you get these little career highlights.

What was the proudest moment of your career?

At the time that I left the City Counsel in order to form my own consultancy, we were just reaching the end of a project called "The Gateway Project" in Portsmouth. Public art was not one of the strong features of Portsmouth at the time, and this was something to try to redress that balance. On behalf of the business community, who were the sponsors of the authority, we managed to put together some matched funding from the City Counsel's own investment program and go to the Onyx Environmental Trust and draw down one of their national projects. We got them to match our funds with another million and a half, and as you enter the city you will see a big sculpture called "Sails of the South", and then we've got a bridge that steps across the mainland Britain onto Port Sea Island, and another package of measures. It was nice to have my departure recognized by the celebration of the completion of the Gateway Project, and so I left a few landmarks behind.

What is the strangest thing you've seen on a planning application?

In dealing with the Port Smith Gateway Project we were conscious of working in the upper reaches of Port Smith Harbor, which is an area of special scientific interest. It's a feeding ground for wild fowl that come over from the Russian steps in the winter, and they feed when the tide goes out and then go onto surrounding playing fields. There's this tradition of the birds feeding between the tides. We felt that it would be a very sensible thing as part of the project to create a sculptor within the tidal area. We designed a sculptor which was a bird roost, so there's a floating platform beneath the sculptor's signature. He has an icon that he uses in a lot of his work, so that's still on top of the pole and this floating platform. I don't think many authorities had a planning application for a bird roost.

What would be your favourite location to work?

One of the projects I worked on in Portsmouth was helping countries that were coming into the European Union, that were around the Mediterranean Basin. It was designed to help them be entrepreneurial in their planning strategies and economic development activity, to create start-up opportunities. We went and worked with Haifa in Israel, Kalamata in Greece, Larnaca in Cyprus and with Pforzheim in Germany, to share knowledge. I always thought it might be quite nice to work somewhere where it was warm and sunny. But wherever it was, it would have to have some challenges. There's no good just sitting down on a beach somewhere and doodling your time away. It would have to be something that needs some problems to be solved.

Who would be your favourite architect to work with?

If I was to decide on who would be a favorite architect, I'm not sure that I would go for an international name. In my experience, I worked well with local architects, locally trained, who have a real sense of commitment to the authority to their area. They want to leave something that improves it. They still live in that area. So they're not being helicopted in to do what they can do in other parts of the world. They're trying to design things that are related to the local circumstance. And sometimes they tend to be squeezed out because something is seen as an iconic project and all of a sudden it has to have a named architect on the bottom of the drawing. And I face problems with many of these societies, where they're more concerned about whose name is on the drawing then looking on what's on the drawing in terms of the quality of the design.