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ANTAS, the Civic Trust and Us
Your Society is a member of ANTAS (Association of North Thames Amenity Societies) and nominated members of the committee attend their biannual meetings. The latest meeting was in Aylesbury. As a reminder: ANTAS is an association of local civic societies working to ensure high standards of planning and architecture in our towns and villages, and the care and preservation of our countryside. It has a current membership of 21 societies, mainly in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, and encourages all civic societies in the region to become members of ANTAS and the Civic Trust, and to be active in the work of the Civic Trust South-East or the East of England Association of Civic Trust Societies (EEACTS). Notes from the ANTAS meeting of April 2008 There were key figures present from: Bucks County Council, Civic Trust (National Chairman and keynote speaker), Chiltern Society (Chairman), East of England Society (Chairman) Some regret was expressed at the expected demise of SEERA (South East England Regional Assembly) but only because it is to be replaced by an even less democratic institution called SEEDA. SEEDA (South East England Development Agency) is directly accountable only to the government, with a budget 40 times that of SEERA, and more or less completes the separation of the South East planning system from local control, making local authorities largely irrelevant. “Government is preparing to ride roughshod over residents' views with new proposals to shift housing, planning and transport powers from councillor-led regional assemblies to unelected quangos responsible for economic growth” The above is a direct quote from the SEERA website. Reports were received from Wendover, Radlett, Oxford, Potters Bar, Marlow, High Wycombe, Hertford, Harpenden, the Chiltern Society, Chesham, Buntingford, Buckingham, Aylesbury and Taplow. In all, ANTAS represents 21 amenity societies. The key concerns emerging from the reports from those present were remarkably consistent:- The average age of committee members is far too high!
- Nobody in government appears to be interested in the infrastructure costs of the massive house-building programme in progress. It was estimated that every house built needed £38Ks-worth of infrastructure support (£50K if you ignore affordable homes). Given that infrastructure is not usually provided for by the developer, a very rough estimate of infrastructure for the incredible 3 million houses planned, is probably around £150billion. Is the tax payer is expected to fund this - and how?
- A propos the above, general worries were expressed about the imbalance between water supply and demand in the South East generally. It was noted that there appears to be a general trend towards exporting water from certain parts of the South East. We in Taplow have already recently experienced this. (It appears that the authorities are relying on a lesser usage per head but the trend has been the other way. Power showers might become illegal!! )
- Traffic management planning was frequently cited as totally inadequate in the face of the torrent of new traffic demands on the road system. Little really high-quality attention is paid either to support or oppose development plans. Remember the Cliveden fiasco?
- The recent announcement by the government of the creation of 'new towns' of 20,000 homes apiece is becoming reality in Aylesbury and Wendover. Wendover is already seeing a planned 20% increase in its population (Aylesbury will have a population of 100,000 by 2022. )- where are all these people coming from? Where do they find jobs, schools, etc.?
- Supermarket wars are breaking out all over, and systematically degrading the quality of High Street shopping.
- SEEDA is seen as a vehicle for removing power from the local people, yet they are 'going through the motions' of consulting us. The cynicism is unbelievable, particularly as they are using incomprehensible language to construct the massive outpourings of documents that Central Planning generates.
- There was general agreement that as planning power becomes more and more centralised, that the voices of individual amenity societies are getting lost. The local authorities who hand out consultation documents are only obeying government 'guidance' when making decisions about particular developments and Taplow’s lone bleats can be lost. What is needed is a far greater degree of co-operation between societies to gain critical mass. Philip Kolvin of the Civic Trust pointed out that countrywide they have a membership of over a quarter of a million people - add all the amenity societies as well, and if we could co-operate more effectively, our voices would certainly be heard. He drew a colourful analogy, pointing out that water falling as rain is spread widely and so has little effect, but when it gathers together as floodwater, its power is unstoppable.
- Democracy is community involvement in decision-making by people who care about what is happening to their society.
- The amenity societies represent a kind of 'moral army' who have a moral authority which transcends planning authority.
- Protection of every square yard of green space (not necessarily Green Belt) is vital. Each square yard that grows things is a symbol of freedom. The loss of a single square yard to concrete or paving slabs is a symbol of the loss of control and freedom. We may not be able to plant a forest, but one precious square yard can be a home for a tree. (There is a direct parallel between this idea and the New York 'Zero Tolerance' campaign that was so successful in reducing crime levels in the capital. A broken window, if tolerated and left unmended, encourages other window breakages, and this escalates, eventually, from neglect to a cultural breakdown. A single square yard lost to cement is a broken window.)
- The Civic Trust is creating a campaign driven by volunteers designed to:
- Improve the quality of our High Streets. Called 'High Street UK', this is modelled on the US initiative called 'Main Street US' which, over the past 25 years, has brought back an estimated $40billion into the Main Street economy.
- Identify and open new Heritage Sites. Some 3,000 have been opened and run by volunteers, and now the Civic Trust are planning to 'edge' into London.
- Encourage the idea of a Cultural Olympics where we can become proud of our culture and heritage and help make the term 'Made in Britain' something to respect abroad once more.
- Encourage better design and regeneration in our urban and rural communities. We need community buildings that are appropriate to the look and feel of the local environment; not the 'Gherkin' that graces the London skyline or the architectural abomination of the Sainsbury’s building in Maidenhead!
- Creating an initiative with local businesses to rescue the night-time town centres from the yobs and make them once again a place for ordinary people to enjoy in safety. To encourage a night-time economy that doesn’t cater only for the restless young. (This does not mean more cameras, but more things to do.)