It was only six days ago when I wrote about the developments on Morecambe Prom near the Midland Hotel. I was walking along the prom yesterday and there is an amusement arcade window displaying the plans. The owner is not happy. Complaints range from a lack of consultation to a Prince Charles type assault on the architects.
It is often the case that great architecture is contentious and beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. The arcade (and letters in the local press) protest also claimed that the local press would not publish an artist's impression of the smallest of the proposed buildings, the Midland and surrounding area. I seem to recall that I have seen this image in the newspaper. I may be wrong but I don't see why they wouldn't print it. I would guess that the accusation is that the press are conspiring with the council and the developers in order to endorse the planning application.
Last week I stated my main concern about developing anything by the coast - can it be protected from global warming and rising sea levels? My view of the artistic impression was that it didn't look bad at all. I thought it gave Morecambe a Mediterranean feel. The protest did mention that the prom belonged to the people (so should not be developed). Well there are not usually many people gaining the benefit of their possession and there weren't many today.
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Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
North versus South
If you live in rural Lancashire then it is fairly easy to get to a major city. I am not one for going shopping but I am quite happy with the number of events that I can attend locally. I guess I am saying that the world may revolve around Morecambe. However not everyone has the same view. Some will say that nothing happens outside London.
It would be nice to have less centralisation. Our national sporting stadia are mostly in London. Most of our national museums and galleries are there too. It is refreshing when you get a building of national importance elsewhere - particularly in the north of England but there are not many examples.
Have you ever seen subtitles for people who are speaking in English? It is really demeaning for them. The producer is saying "you may be speaking English but we can't understand you". Not quite as bad but demeaning too, is when I see the North of England correspondent on the television news. You don't see a South of England correspondent because this is obviously where all the serious news comes from. It says to me that the broadcasters will devote one of their reporters to the north and all the others are for the south. At least we don't usually see subtitles when a northener is speaking.
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It would be nice to have less centralisation. Our national sporting stadia are mostly in London. Most of our national museums and galleries are there too. It is refreshing when you get a building of national importance elsewhere - particularly in the north of England but there are not many examples.
Have you ever seen subtitles for people who are speaking in English? It is really demeaning for them. The producer is saying "you may be speaking English but we can't understand you". Not quite as bad but demeaning too, is when I see the North of England correspondent on the television news. You don't see a South of England correspondent because this is obviously where all the serious news comes from. It says to me that the broadcasters will devote one of their reporters to the north and all the others are for the south. At least we don't usually see subtitles when a northener is speaking.
Change the world
Monday, 5 July 2010
The rights of the prisoner
I was listening to local radio a couple of days ago and they were interviewing people in the street on their views about prison. They happened to interview someone who had just come out of prison and he said that life was too easy inside. They all have their own TVs and kettles and they spend time playing pool. It sounds quite a nice existence if you add on to this that meals and a bed are provided.
I admit that my experience is limited but I have played a few rugby matches behind closed walls. The opposition players were very nice people. You could see that playing against a "normal" team was a privilege for them and they were certainly on their best behaviour - and that's the point. You need privilege so that you get best behaviour. I have also had direct experience of speaking with the staff of a few prisons. Order is maintained by agreement and without the little luxuries then life would be much harder for both staff and prisoners.
I guess it is a little like any organisation. People don't like change, but it does seem that prisoners have things a little too easy. If we are all tightening our belts then we could do worse than looking at the rights of the prisoner.
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I admit that my experience is limited but I have played a few rugby matches behind closed walls. The opposition players were very nice people. You could see that playing against a "normal" team was a privilege for them and they were certainly on their best behaviour - and that's the point. You need privilege so that you get best behaviour. I have also had direct experience of speaking with the staff of a few prisons. Order is maintained by agreement and without the little luxuries then life would be much harder for both staff and prisoners.
I guess it is a little like any organisation. People don't like change, but it does seem that prisoners have things a little too easy. If we are all tightening our belts then we could do worse than looking at the rights of the prisoner.
Change the world
Sunday, 4 July 2010
I thought Andrew Neil was clever
In the last couple of days I have heard three or four comments about the VAT increase and the Liberal Democrats' poster concerning the Tory plans to increase this tax. Andrew Neil is one person who seemed shocked that the Liberal Democrats were part of the coalition that has increased VAT. Why should he be shocked? I thought he was a fairly clever man.
Before the election the Liberal Democrats were warning that great savings would have to be made and an open and honest approach was needed. An increase in VAT was not ruled out. It just so happened that if we were to believe Tory information then money would have to be raised elsewhere and the guess was that it would be VAT. Now that it has been discovered that the economy is much worse than anticipated then cuts will be deeper and taxation greater.
The Liberal Democrat position is completely reasonable. As for the Tories and their increase in VAT that they denied before the election, then there defence is... well I suppose it is the economy is worse than anticipated. However they can defend themselves but I really don't know why Andrew Neil and others should be shocked by the decisions made by Liberal Democrats.
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Before the election the Liberal Democrats were warning that great savings would have to be made and an open and honest approach was needed. An increase in VAT was not ruled out. It just so happened that if we were to believe Tory information then money would have to be raised elsewhere and the guess was that it would be VAT. Now that it has been discovered that the economy is much worse than anticipated then cuts will be deeper and taxation greater.
The Liberal Democrat position is completely reasonable. As for the Tories and their increase in VAT that they denied before the election, then there defence is... well I suppose it is the economy is worse than anticipated. However they can defend themselves but I really don't know why Andrew Neil and others should be shocked by the decisions made by Liberal Democrats.
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Saturday, 3 July 2010
How to nurture English talent
The news is that Fabio Capello is to remain the England manager. It is refreshing to hear that a manager is supported even when the team that he is managing does worse than expected. I am not keen on the idea that we employ football managers and then sack the ones that are in the bottom half of the league because the team is in this position, and then sack some of the managers who are in the top half of the league because the team are not doing as well as the fans or the board would like. I would like to see contracts that are honoured. If you give a manager a three year contract then stay with it. This is what has honourably been agreed.
However there is another side to Fabio's contract. It may be that he was the best candidate for the England post, but how does he inspire national pride? What would have happened if England played Italy? If he were truly professional and didn't want Italy to win then what kind of role model is this to inspire national pride? Secondly, when Fabio began his role in England his English wasn't brilliant. How does he inspire through communication? It may be that he is inspirational but did the selection panel consider the inspirational value of his translators?
If we learn anything from this World Cup it should be that we need to nurture English talent, whether it is management or players. We can't do that with a Premier League full of non-English players and managers.
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However there is another side to Fabio's contract. It may be that he was the best candidate for the England post, but how does he inspire national pride? What would have happened if England played Italy? If he were truly professional and didn't want Italy to win then what kind of role model is this to inspire national pride? Secondly, when Fabio began his role in England his English wasn't brilliant. How does he inspire through communication? It may be that he is inspirational but did the selection panel consider the inspirational value of his translators?
If we learn anything from this World Cup it should be that we need to nurture English talent, whether it is management or players. We can't do that with a Premier League full of non-English players and managers.
Change the world
Friday, 2 July 2010
Dark ages for the NHS
I was listening to a phone conversation yesterday. The person on my end of the line was asking about someone we both know who is in hospital. The first question was is she on the ward. I was only half-listening but it seemed to take a long time and there was still no answer. I think the person on the other end of the line was using a computer, because I know there are boards on the wall that tell you the names of the people on the ward and it also tells you which bed they occupy.
The delay continued and I was thinking that this person could not see the board, however I did feel that it would have been much easier to shout out the person's name and see if anyone answered. I was busy otherwise I would have suggested a phone call back to the hospital in a few minutes to see if they knew where their patient was. I said nothing and after what may have been ten minutes we discovered her whereabouts.
This is not an example of human error making computers look bad. I mentioned in a recent blog that someone I know had taken early retirement because a new generation of software had slowed down her ability to make appointments. Everyone was at best uncomfortable with the new system and at worst it was a cause for anger. This is the age of the computer and everyone can find out anything. However it is not that long ago that patients were known by name. Now we are lucky to know the doctor by name. Now we are lucky if staff who work on a ward know their patients. Why do I think that in many ways we are back in the dark ages?
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The delay continued and I was thinking that this person could not see the board, however I did feel that it would have been much easier to shout out the person's name and see if anyone answered. I was busy otherwise I would have suggested a phone call back to the hospital in a few minutes to see if they knew where their patient was. I said nothing and after what may have been ten minutes we discovered her whereabouts.
This is not an example of human error making computers look bad. I mentioned in a recent blog that someone I know had taken early retirement because a new generation of software had slowed down her ability to make appointments. Everyone was at best uncomfortable with the new system and at worst it was a cause for anger. This is the age of the computer and everyone can find out anything. However it is not that long ago that patients were known by name. Now we are lucky to know the doctor by name. Now we are lucky if staff who work on a ward know their patients. Why do I think that in many ways we are back in the dark ages?
Change the world
Thursday, 1 July 2010
Building by the sea
A few years ago I read an article about global warming and how the sea levels would rise. It went into great detail as to how our island's boundaries would change. I lived in east Lancashire at the time and my area was quite safe so I managed to sleep soundly. However I did notice that even though the north west did not do too badly, there was some land lost by the coast.
Now I live in Morecambe and the whole peninsula is fairly flat. It is easy to see how the whole area may be at risk and we have good sea defences which are constantly upgraded, unless you live in Sunderland Point and Heysham is under serious threat of erosion too.
This leads me to another letter in the local paper (see yesterday's blog) about a possible development by Urban Splash near the Midland Hotel. There have been objections on many grounds, amendments to these plans and consultation is ongoing but I am not clear why attitudes have changed to building so close to the sea. Will any building on the sea side of the promenade get insurance against flooding? Will any building be designed as flood-proof.
It is a while since I saw buildings on the news on the east coast fall into the sea due to erosion, and places like St Peter's Heysham and the whole of Sunderland Point are under the same serious threat. It seems strange to me that we can allow our heritage to disappear under water but afford to build in areas that are at sea level.
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Now I live in Morecambe and the whole peninsula is fairly flat. It is easy to see how the whole area may be at risk and we have good sea defences which are constantly upgraded, unless you live in Sunderland Point and Heysham is under serious threat of erosion too.
This leads me to another letter in the local paper (see yesterday's blog) about a possible development by Urban Splash near the Midland Hotel. There have been objections on many grounds, amendments to these plans and consultation is ongoing but I am not clear why attitudes have changed to building so close to the sea. Will any building on the sea side of the promenade get insurance against flooding? Will any building be designed as flood-proof.
It is a while since I saw buildings on the news on the east coast fall into the sea due to erosion, and places like St Peter's Heysham and the whole of Sunderland Point are under the same serious threat. It seems strange to me that we can allow our heritage to disappear under water but afford to build in areas that are at sea level.
Change the world
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