Mysterious Britain* – More of The Deep Stuff

* Extract from “Mysterious Britain” by Janet & Colin Bord

“…..the ancient men built upon the hills not for reasons of war, but because the re-moulding of the countryside was an integral past of their way of life. By sculpting the forms of the hills and downs they could enhance and magnify those currents of natural energy that flowed, and still do flow, through the body of the earth, by the use of sound, movement, and, above all, thought. In the form of solemn and joyful ceremonies, they could manipulate the vibrations in order to bring the bountiful and vital life force flowing through the land and the people.”

Thus it should come as no surprise that Crookbarrow Hill – until severed from its hinterland by major road construction – was the focus of the local community’s religious – ie Christian – celebrations and holidays, notably at Easter and Whitsuntide,  as shown in this account provided by St Peter’s Baptist Church :

“The annual SS (Sunday School) treat was always arranged for the Whitsun bank holiday Monday and for many years Crookbarrow Hill, Whittington (more familiarly known as Whittington Tump) was the venue. In one account of this in 1908 we read ‘We started at 1.30 pm from the school and marched to Whittington, the infants being conveyed there on a dray kindly lent by Messrs Barnett Ltd.’  Our oldest member, Beat Clinton, who started going to SS in 1915 at the age of three, recalls the annual treat with great affection. She remembers the use of Mr Gammon’s dray to transport the children at 1pm. Tea was at 4pm and races at 6pm followed by a football match for all the fathers, everyone returning home about 9pm….”

The Deep Stuff (1) – SWJCS Site Allocations & Policies

Crookbarrow is interested in the relationship between depth psychology, deep ecology, and sustainability. However, concepts such as these may be difficult to grasp in the abstract, and may be best illustrated with reference to actual events.

Synchronicity, in the form of major climatic events co-inciding with key phases of the development planning process has been noticeable around Worcester in recent years.

Thus Examination of Worcester City Council’s Balanced Housing Market Development Plan Document (DPD) was preceded and followed by the Summer 2007  floods.

Equally syncronistic, a planned consultation event yesterday for a South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy Site Allocations and Policies DPD - which presumes the outcome of the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy Examination – had to be cancelled due to the snow.

Deep Stuff !

West Midlands Spatial Planning : Quantum & Little Solace

The public consultation on Preferred Options for the South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy (SWJCS) closes on 31 October, whilst the consultation on the Preferred Option for the Phase 2 Revisions of the West Midlands Regional Spatial Stategy WMRSS) has been extended until 8 December. Comments on the WMRSS Phase 2 Revision were orginally due last March.

However, the Government Office for the West Midlands (GOWM), in response to a National Housing & Planning Advice Unit Report, commissioned consultants to consider how additional housing development could be accommodated in the WMRSS Revision, and, therefore, local development frameworks such as SWJCS. It should also be noted that further consultation on the WMRSS Phase 3 Revision, which deals with major environmental issues, has been postponed.

If all this sounds needlessly complicated, the obvious answer is that it is probably intended to be. Moreover, to complicate matter still further, the West Midlands Regional Assembly, which has hitherto been responsible for regional planning, is in the process of being abolished and its powers transferred to the Regional Development Agency (RDA), Advantage West Midlands, and the County Councils.

From the Crookbarrow perspective, the problem is basically this : too much development “quantum”  (particularly housing) is proposed in the SWJCS and WMRSS Preferred Options, and even more in the GOWM consultant’s report; and there is little solace by way of proposals for genuinely sustainable development and environmental conservation.

Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending upon one’s perspective), reality has imposed checks on the spatial planning process, notably in the Summer floods of last year (see below), and in the so-called “Credit Crunch”, global financial crisis and impending economic recession which have unfolded in the past 12 months or so. The question remains, however, as to whether these “quantum” developments have yet properly registered on the collective planning psyche, and the answer almost certainly offers little solace.

Drivers braving the Worcester ring road (TheMailOnline July 2007)