Public spaces in London

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A while back I linked to the Evening Standard report on the new and improved ring of steel and the topic also game up both on the last little walk I went on and in comments about it. so it’s interesting to note that the London Assembly Planning and Housing Committee are “reportedly” going to be talking about private management of public spaces. I saw “reportedly” because although the press release mentions that the “private management of public space can mean Londoners are excluded from parts of the capital or subject to arbitrary rules around activities like filming” , there’s no explicit mention of it in the actual agenda. The actual agenda only talks about a “feeling of exclusion”, the main areas the committee may wish to consider are listed as:

  • What are the key characteristics of successful and accessible public space?
  • What models are there of managing public space in London?
  • What benefits and disadvantages are there to the different ways of managing public space?
  • What lessons can be learned from recent London examples of master planning? What are the necessary skills for planners?
  • When and how can local communities be involved in the decision making to ensure the design of public space is not an afterthought?
  • How are the Mayor’s policies having an impact on London’s public realm?

So whilst it’s heartening to see the question of the loss of rights in public places being considered in public statements, the frame of reference seems to be merely concerned that we don’t feel excluded and how best to ensure that. This is reflected in the concerns expressed by Boris, who only talks about feelings and also says:
“With proper consideration at the outset of safety issues, the usage of public spaces can be extended well into the evening without the need for unnecessary barriers”
Which inherently suggests that we don’t have a right of access to these aforementioned public spaces (which according to the terms laid out is basically anywhere we can in principle go).
There is some hope in that the initial proposal for this report mentions:

“4.2 Some commentators believe that the growth of privately managed public space, produces over controlled,
sterile places which lack connection to the reality and diversity of the local environment, with the result that they all tend to look the same. They also raise serious questions about democracy and accountability as well as the displacement of social problems into neighbouring districts”

Emphasis mine. Apparently activists are listed amongst the “Key stakeholders”, so it might be worth getting in touch with them so that they’ve got more stakeholders to ignore.

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And so it came to pass

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Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and predictions not written down are easy to get right. However I recall quite a few years back wondering aloud to many people why the various factions in Northern Ireland were bothering as with the EU it’d all become moot anyway, as they’d just be regions of a greater EU state. I wasn’t that politically aware back then but with a single currency and European passports it seemed the logical end point, and once we were all just “Europeans” what would they be fighting for exactly?

Via Leg Iron and by way of Witterings from Witney it seems the Irish have now noticed that they have in fact given away 400 years of struggle for independence. The Irish Times asks if “this is what the men of 1916 died for“, as Archbishop Cranmer observed they didn’t even make it to the centenary of their independence. I wonder when or if the Irish people as a whole will realise fully what’s happened and what they’ll then do about it. They do after all have a recent history of causing trouble and have a bit of a reputation for their ability to cause mischief.

Closer to home back in the 90’s Margaret Thatcher appears to have been on the money as to the effect the Euro would have on weaker economies. So as the Irish state looses autonomy to the bankers of the EU, perhaps we still have time to ask questions about the state of our independence – after all we have Dave’s cast iron guarantee. Hopefully we’ll not be as quick to squander the sacrifice of generations to gain and keep our sovereignty and freedoms as our Irish brethren have been – or maybe the next episode of X-factor will let us all sleep walk into the waiting arms of the EU. Though as Douglas Carswell observes we may already be past that point as the Lisbon treaty already means we have no choice about helping to bail out the Irish – on terms decided by the EU.

Update: As every Leg Iron has a good take on matters

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Sticking it to the bankers

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Via Captain Ranty a nice, simple risk free way to stick it to the bankers and smash the system. We all just need to withdraw all of our funds from the banks on the same day the 7th December, we can put it all back the very next day but just for one day leave nothing in the bank it will cause chaos and Eric Cantona is supporting it – what more reason do you need?

As Captain Ranty observers you don’t even need to take out all of your money, leave in enough to pay any bills due in the few days you’ve got your money out but don’t leave any excess capital in there. The whole banking system depends on never having to let the majority of us have our money at the same time – but they can’t refuse to let us have it if we demand it.

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