The recent exhibition by Hannick Homes of the proposed 28 houses laid bare the cynicism we have come to expect. Representatives of Hannick Homes confirmed that: they know that this proposal is outside the framework boundary and hope that the recent Widham Farm High Court decision clears the way for this; they are intending, over time, to completely develop all the fields they have options on behind Jewels Ash, changing the green centre of Purton for ever, this is just the start; all footpaths in the vicinity (even the one […]
Yet more plans for houses
Hannick Homes has its eye on the fields behind Jewels ash yet again. The current proposition is for less homes than before but … At very short notice, there is an exhibition in the village hall, on proposals for a development of 28 houses, from 2:30pm to 7:30 pm on Thursday (20th June 2013).
Transforming Purton Parish
Purton Parish consists of two villages (Purton and Purton Stoke) in Wiltshire. Parish issues concerning water, food, energy, waste, heath, education, safety, housing transport, economy, recreation, connectivity, and democracy are evaluated and discussed. With UK population at an all-time high of 60 million and predictions to add a further 10 million during the next 40 years or so, it is inevitable, for good or bad, that the parish will continue to change. To embed appropriate resilience for the future, a Foresight and Resilience Plan is proposed.
Senegal: Peanut Shell Briquettes
After Nigeria, Senegal is the largest producer of peanuts with more than 1.3 million tonnes each year generating more than 350,000 tonnes of waste shells. In Senegal, it is estimated that 70% of Senegalese households resort to charcoal for domestic-cooking needs, with the annual consumption of wood-derived charcoal being around 360,000 tonnes, placing significant pressure on forest resources.
Burkina Faso: Reforestation
CarbonBrake has been working with the village of Nayakla to re-forest unproductive land. The new forest lies to the south east of Banfora, some six hours from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. The village of Nayakla can only be reached by motorbike (locally known as “moto”) and lies some 15 km from the nearest surfaced road. The head of the village is Monsieur Sory and he has allocated some of the village lands for use by CarbonBrake to establish the new forest. This is also fully supported by the […]
Future Challenges and Direction
This paper tours briefly through the challenges of global water and the inter-related big issues (such as, population, resource depletion and climate change) and then explores water in the UK in relation to those same issues whilst juxtaposed with other big UK issues such as current economics, spatial planning, infrastructure, food and energy.
A Case Study in Resilience
Purton Parish consists of two villages (Purton and Purton Stoke) in Wiltshire, a county in the UK. Parish issues concerning water, food, energy, waste, heath, education, safety, housing transport, economy, recreation, connectivity, and democracy are evaluated and discussed. With UK population at an all-time high of 60 million and predictions to add a further 10 million during the next 40 years or so, it is inevitable, for good or bad, that the parish will continue to change.
Urban Policies for Climate Variability and Climate Change Adaptation
Whilst the concept of climate change risk is generally acknowledged within current urban policy-making, there is little apparent distinction made between true (long term) climate change (CC) and the short term imperative of responding to climate variability (CV). Election-based governance systems tend to focus on relatively short-term responses, addressing CV. The risk is that the “quick-fix”, vote-earning, policy responses to CV make future adaptation to CC much harder, less likely, and perhaps even unlikely.