Its official, humans are as popular as ever and we still want to carry on reproducing ourselves and having families. Hardly a surprise there, you might say.
The current UK population projections show we are heading for almost a 40 per cent increase in numbers, from 61 to 85 million, over the next seven decades.
Just take a moment to imagine what another 24 million people would do to the daily commute or attempt to find a house in a nice quiet part of town in 2080. Then take a guess at what some other countries around the world might look like if we assume growth to be of a similar scale.
Assuming the world will solve such limiting critical factors as new pandemic disease, producing enough food to supply the increased population growth and managing to avoid catastrophic climate and environmental change (which is more than a big ask) then this is what our children have to look forward to in their old age, or what your grand children and great grand children will have to cope with.
In the latest You Gov opinion poll (published July 11, 2009 on World Population Day), commissioned by the Optimum Population Trust (an environmental charity, think-tank and campaign group), over 2000 people were asked to name what problems an increased population might cause. Among the multiple questions answered, 74 per cent highlighted transport congestion, 65 per cent said lack of affordable housing, 64 per cent thought damage to the natural environment, 53 per cent believed poorer quality of life, 50 per cent had food supply on their mind, 48 per cent turned to energy and water supply and bottom of the list was 47 per cent who identified climate change.
Back in the world of natural population growth, ecology rules – at least it does if you depend entirely upon nature for your food, shelter and environment. We humans have gone a stage further than nature in manufacturing our own food supply, building homes in all climate conditions and controlling our environment. We have been so successful at doing this that we have over populated the planet and what will curtail our over abundance now is simply running out of space, destroying or polluting our world so badly that we will become the cause of our own downfall.
Of course it is deeply engrained in our DNA to reproduce, and the evolutionary purpose of pleasurable sex is to encourage as much multiplication as possible. Whilst this is innate behaviour, it is hard to be scientific or intellectualise over deciding whether or not to have a second or third child. Such decisions – unless conceiving was unplanned – are more likely based on emotions and perhaps second on the practicalities of home and finance.
All life on earth has similarly evolved with the single self mission to survive and increase by successfully reproducing itself. The essence of a successful species is if it can increase its number to the point that it has multiple populations, able to withstand local losses caused by predation, food or shelter supply and to quickly enable losses to be overcome. Survival and expansion is the rule, but governing this are many factors, not least the predator – prey ratio.
Thankfully, as humans, we can largely forget about the impact of prey taking out our fellow citizens, but in the world of science fiction we could still prove to be a tasty morsel for those aliens with an insatiable appetite for live hominids!
Aside from the invasion of human gobbling extra-terrestrials, the real issue in population control, is can the Earth’s physical resources stretch to supplying all the needs that continual growth in numbers would demand. Many poor nations already prove how inadequate or ill prepared they are to feed their current population when drought or disease arrives. Current estimates also reveal one billion people on the planet are malnourished now and this will only increase as populations grow.
Mass conflicts and natural disasters also show us how difficult it is to give aid to evacuees but the impact of climate change and increased human numbers will bring even more severe disasters and human misery.
There is little disagreement and overwhelming support for the view that both the world and the UK are overpopulated. In the survey 72 per cent thought world population was too high, causing serious environmental problems, and 70 per cent took the same view of the UK. The survey results also revealed widespread agreement that population growth is responsible for a range of environmental and social ills.
At the bottom of the figures pile, four per cent thought population growth caused no problems.
When people were asked to take the environment into account when deciding family size, 34 per cent of couples thought it better to have no more than two children, eight per cent favoured having only one child and seven per cent said couples should consider having no children – a total of 49 per cent supporting two children or fewer. Thirteen per cent favoured a maximum of three children and 14 per cent said couples should have as many children as they liked.
As an environmentalist, concerned about the growing number of people who are disconnected from understanding the importance of the planet’s natural systems in supporting life on Earth, I am worried that 14 per cent seemingly think population increase has no connection with the environment. If we all accept responsibility that numbers cannot keep expanding then what should we be doing as a society or at a family level?
Roger Martin is chair of the Optimum Population Trust, and a Mendip resident who was previously CEO of the Somerset Wildlife Trust. He says: “The poll clearly demonstrates widespread concern about the environmental damage caused by population growth and widespread support for measures to limit it. The unequivocal nature of these findings makes the silence on population policy on the part of politicians and environmental groups even more astonishing. The political parties and the green movement need to realise that the public can sustain a mature debate on population. It’s time they started treating people like grown-ups.”
I rather feel the environmental lobby is much bolder than Mr Martin gives credit. The green movement, in my view, is certainly not afraid to speak out about the dangers posed by unregulated population growth, but I think the issue with smaller groups is that population growth has simply not been red flagged to the extent as, say, energy and food shortages – predicted to appear when climate change disasters stretch across Europe.
Perhaps the feeling among some is that population numbers will physically be reduced anyway when the impending scenarios of critical sea level rise, land loss and the lack of food supply strike hard. Economic losses across the world will mean that aid and rescue missions will simply break down. The other factor is that climate change forecasts and the seemingly unstoppable use of fossil fuels until they run out (up to 2050 onwards) creates so many dangerous scenarios and catastrophes that population growth – like expansion of house building, urban growth and loss of vital global green habitats – will be the lesser of the evils.
The more delicate question, for the moment, is how society should stop people having more children than a country can sustain, or else should Western governments start reducing the expectation that medical interventions will always prolong life into old age. If this seems shocking to you or inconceivable then we need a debate about what people will accept as the best way to curtail or even reduce population growth.
Increasingly there is a view that people who deliberately self abuse through drink, smoking or morbid obesity, cannot expect the NHS to spend limited resources in saving them from premature death. In future, will we see increasing emphasis on self help and responsibility for personal health leading to better life saving care when needed? Will financial support or benefits only cover families with one or two children? Could society ever reach the point that sterilisation is introduced after the second child?
Education and increased awareness about the hardships and deaths caused by unsustainable human numbers has to be the first attempt at voluntarily limiting numbers. A fully adequate contraception and education service in the poorest countries and local initiatives to persuade a change in trends also has to be part of the global plan.
The most popular measure of dealing with population growth, according to the You Gov survey was a reduction in immigration, favoured by 69 per cent, followed by the right to work after retirement age (63 per cent), better family planning to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies (62 per cent) and limitations on the offer of flats to young single mothers (48 per cent).
An argument in favour of population growth in that younger people are needed to support the retired is reduced if people can work for as long as they feel able and capable. Older people remain more useful to society by not then becoming an economic drain that needs more working people to support them.
The UK population has been moderating, since the baby boom of post war Britain in the 1950s. Some science has even shown how men’s fertility has declined as increased female hormones are found in drinking water. However, with prosperity comes an economic ability to sustain a larger family and this influence has driven up the birth rate, but may well now decline in the next decade.
Among the other statistics which the OPT gave, it is comforting to discover that nearly half the public believes couples should limit themselves to two children or fewer to reduce human impact on the environment, A majority of those questioned would welcome a significantly smaller UK population than at present; and almost as many said their quality of life would improve if their area had fewer people.
Nearly nine-tenths of those who expressed an opinion supported a lower UK population than at present. In the South West there were 57 per cent who favoured only having two children or fewer.
In China the population growth is limited (one child policy) by government decree, which has perhaps prevented over 400 million more mouths to feed over 25 years. India too has its policies, but has the second largest world population (1/6th of the world’s pop.) at around 1.17 billion (July 2009) with 45 per cent malnourished. Their growth of 19 million a year, according to India’s government, is falling as education measures are more successful.
Current world population stands at around 6.8 billion, rising by about 80 million per year. The United Nations’ medium estimate is by 2050 there will be 9.2 billion, and that’s with a 40 per cent reduced fertility rate.
If intelligence is something we think we are good at, I fear we might have to go back to school on this one – because who can say we are intelligent beings when we are on the verge of collapsing the whole Earth biosphere through our industrial activities (global warming), unsustainable growth in human numbers and neglect – as a higher species – to thoroughly consider our role as protector of all other life forms on Earth.
It has always seemed to me incredible that we still can’t solve conflict without killing each other, or even legally killing mass numbers of humans through armed conflict or wars. I can’t think of any other species that, en mass, attack their own kind because they have different ways of expression or some other behaviour differences. In nature it doesn’t happen. So why have we become so divorced that we happily threaten and battle with our own kind? Over population might be one answer as studies on wild and captive animals has shown that high density and inadequate living space can lead to murder and even cannibalism. Is this why we are prone to attack our fellow citizens, given enough provocation? The recent television programme about battery versus free range chickens gave enough insight into why birds behave the way they do when life is bad. Is this a lesson we can learn from?
Whilst we think we are ‘intelligent’ Homo sapiens, I wonder how intelligent we really are in regarding our fellow human race members. We have some critical issues to solve in the next few decades with climate change, dwindling natural resources and massive habitat loss through man’s destructive behaviour and increasing numbers being top of the list.
If these can’t be solved then the impacts they will have on earth will be serious and most probably lead to dramatic changes in human life being able to sustain itself at anything like the numbers we have today. The debate about population size has to include quality of life and whether we can offer medical care and ease suffering if numbers are so large we simply don’t have even the basics to go round.
Paul Lund
NOTES: Figures are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2131 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between May 22 and May 26 2009. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults nationally (aged 18+).
Full results can be viewed at: www.optimumpopulation.org/submissions/YouGov11Jul09.xls
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: See www.optimumpopulation.org or telephone 020 8123 9116 or 07976 370221.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
More famous than the town
Those Green Fields of Glastonbury ... Could the Festival’s legacy create something special in Glastonbury?
I am wondering if Glastonbury Festival isn’t now more famous than Glastonbury itself!
Well, you might think so after another ‘wall to wall’ weekend of BBC coverage, and thousands upon thousands of fans coming not to the town but to ‘Glastonbury.’ Media coverage rivals Wimbledon and BBC had nearly as many staff at Glastonbury as the Beijing Olympics.
At this time of year when people say “the festival,” you know they can only mean Glastonbury Festival, and if you are coming to Somerset in late June, to go to the Festival, then the place called Glastonbury can only mean – ‘the Festival.’ Simples!
If you look worn out and sunburnt people ask: “Have you been to Glastonbury?” Or, “What was Glastonbury like?” Such questions can only refer to the Festival! All roads lead to Glastonbury, unless you are leaving the Festival, and all of Glastonbury – just about – is at ‘Glastonbury.’
This occurrence will always be such, so long as there is a Festival. As tens of thousands of festival goers come to Glastonbury – or rather they go around Glastonbury to get to the Festival – the town has to take a back seat. I should add here that if you live in Pilton you might be one of those who still call it the “Pilton Pop Festival,” perhaps to save confusion, or just because that was how it became known in the early years. And isn’t it odd that Shepton Mallet might be half the distance to the Festival than Glastonbury is, but taking its name never quite inspired the same elegant conjugation as Glastonbury did.
So, we are thankful that Glastonbury was chosen but at the same time we don’t want to be forgotten altogether each June when the Festival moves Glastonbury 8 miles away.
Now, try this... stop and ask someone in Glastonbury “where are the Green Fields?” Their reply will be either they don’t know what you mean or they’ll direct you to the nearest grass park. Do the same at the Festival and almost everyone will know what you mean, even if they have no idea where to find them! They are famous among the festival fraternity and their successful history has probably been the inspiration for many other green festivals and events around the country.
Why am I writing about this name connection and confusion about fields?
It’s because I would like to propose and see something of the famous Festival Green Fields coming here to Glastonbury – permanently.
It strikes me that it’s high time that both major attractions shared something in common over each other’s ‘green’ success. Something that would initiate a new, more equal, relationship and bring something different to what the Extravaganza can provide between the Festival and its name sake.
What I am thinking of might be a way of working together. It could also be a solid structure, or a piece of art that communicates the ethos by which those Green Fields are best known or what they symbolise – Love our world and care for it.
Before I explain more about this, let’s just take a look over those Festival Green Fields and what they have been doing for the Festival and the local area, over the years.
Some people go to Glastonbury – the Festival – just to be part of the Green Fields and dislike the very thought of ‘Babylon,’ as it is called, which for the majority is the heart of the Festival with its noise, hustle and bustle, main stages and fast food markets. The old railway line marks the subtle change and going uphill to the stone circle you can feel a definite alternative pace, a more relaxed tempo and altogether a more tranquil mood. This is what I call an emotive and could be the first consideration or motivation in whatever might be designed or created for Glastonbury – ‘establish a feeling of peace and relaxation.’
According to the Festival map, the Green Fields take up five or six actual fields, if you include either the Greenpeace dedicated field (just below or north of the old railway line), or the Stone Circle field, the latter being more of a ‘chill-out’ zone than anywhere to find out about green issues. The main focus for sustainability, ‘green issues’ and everything eco under the (renewable/alternative energy) sun is the Green Futures field and its opposite neighbour – Croissant Neuf, which contains some green type stalls and power from solar energy.
Further south, going uphill, are the Healing and Craft fields. They also take on the mantra of being as eco-friendly as possible.
The Green Fields occupy what is now an increasingly smaller area across the whole site as the rest of the Festival has expanded. However, more of the whole Festival is now influenced by the need for sustainable environmental practice over such issues as recycling waste, renewable energy use, water and the whole issue of Fairtrade or ethical purchasing. The Festival even has its own Ethical Trader Award and now a Sustainability Coordinator, so the influence is running through the Festival’s veins and this can only be good for everyone as well as the environment.
It’s because the Festival and its Green Fields have probably, I believe, largely influenced the town of Glastonbury to the extent that today residents in the town are far more aware of green issues as a consequence, that these links should be more stated, even celebrated.
Sustainability, eco-consciousness and renewable energy have been a way of thinking for many Glastonbury people – both new settlers and the born and bred here – for a long time. Both Glastonbury Festival and the Big Green Gathering maintain offices in town, as do other green and eco inspired businesses. You could say the town has been ‘thinking green’ for 20 years or more, since the early 1990s, which equals the length of time the Festival’s campaigns and the inspiration the Green Fields have been having on the town.
The Festival’s Green Fields have probably been an encouragement for residents in Pilton too, who formed the Pilton Green Group. Shepton Mallet’s interest in forming a sustainability movement has in all probability roots back to Glastonbury Festival. The Green Fields must also have done much good for many other Somerset and UK groups, green events and individual campaigners, one way or another.
Perhaps one of the Green Field’s most acclaimed successes was to give birth to the Big Green Gathering in 1994. This festival, now in Somerset on the Mendips, attracts about 20, 000 fans, and has found its own fame as the most eco-friendly event of its size.
In my brief visit to the Glastonbury Festival Green Fields this year, I was again struck by how much effort had been made. Here were small voluntary groups who had put on good displays and were engaging with ordinary people. I was stopped twice by smiling faces and young people wanting to show me something of interest. This is such an important element of any approach if the ‘Glastonbury Green’s’ hope to engage with the ‘Glastonbury Babylonians,’ who might then go away with a new environmentally friendly attitude. Here is my second emotive – ‘create interest, influence and connections.’
As with the whole Festival – the Green Fields have changed. They are not the “hippy” commune they were years ago. Not only has the world changed its attitude to environmental issues, because of the wide spread effects of climate change, but the organisations have become more proficient in their campaigning methods and knowledge base. Of course the ‘flamboyance’ that is Glastonbury was there too and why not – after all this is a fun festival – but as soon as you did engage and listen to what was being said it was clear people knew the facts and were passionate about explaining them.
Today we are all seeking the truth and any so called ‘green-wash’ or half-baked eco ideas simply won’t pass the test. We want to hear from experts or people who know their subject and put forward a convincing argument. Glastonbury Festival has this covered and puts on an impressive list of guest speakers. In the programme lists for this year’s Green Fields you might have been lucky enough to hear: Tony Benn; Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP; Brigit Strawbridge; Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg MP; Vince Cable MP; Michael Eavis and Justin Rowlatt, to name just a few.
My suggestion or plea at this point is to ask the Green Fields to spread their messages and communications far and wide. In the age of podcasts, You Tube, on-line networking and other multi-media forms simultaneous broadcasting, reporting, and linking up with places and people around the world can be done with powerful effects. The Programme says you can find their information at www.myspace.com/greenfieldsinfo
It is still the case that in all the massive national and international broadcast television, radio and web media coming from Glastonbury, only a fraction is devoted to the Green Fields (about three minutes on BBC2 TV) and the messages and campaigners who can be found there. Some might say Green Field people like the anonymity that their quiet ‘green grass field world’ devoid of mud, provides. Others will be sceptical about how much media technology can change things. I think they could be missing a trick if they don’t do more in this direction and look at what the results show.
Will we see films of the Glastonbury Green Field speakers on the Green TV web site? I don’t know, but I think you should be able to. Like the rest of Glastonbury, media interest depends upon who’s there and major stars of stage and screen will attract more coverage. Content coming from those debates and discussions can be web-cast in various ways to audiences around the world. Put simply, the more informed we all are the more chance we have of working together to solve the problems. As the Festival message this year said: “We’re in it together” – with Greenpeace, Oxfam and Water Aid all “working together for a cleaner, greener, fairer Glastonbury.”
As with all other popular aspects of the Festival, I also think the Green Fields people could be doing more throughout the year.
Yes, it’s true this Festival is physically here for under one week out of 52, in more years than not, but the audience who desperately want to come to it each year exist all the time. They hardly change their dedication with the years either, as once hooked on Glastonbury in your youth you want to just keep on coming back, time and time again... as many do, but others find it impossible for one reason or another. They represent a market and audience with specific interests who could be engaged with news, views, ideas, and even appeals for their support.
This image that – Loving Glastonbury, then Love the World – has created goes far and wide. We don’t often see the extent of the international interest in Glastonbury, but it is worldwide.
Like me, you might know people who even wear their ‘Glasto’ wrist bands all year round or never remove their Glastonbury car window stickers – there’s something at work here too, and I don’t think it’s about people being lazy! A strong bond does exist with the fans here and opportunities to strengthen and widen that link would, I am sure, be welcomed. Here is my third emotive – ‘join hearts and minds create physical forms that symbolise dedication and unity towards a fairer and greener world.’
I imagine the Festival’s Sustainability Coordinator will recognise how linking some initiatives started at the Festival could be advantageously taken up here in Glastonbury – and vice versa. This link needs to be fostered and could bear fruit in a short while. There are two Glastonbury open green parks which traffic passes by on the way to the Festival and which, I suppose without too much effort, might host some statuesque symbols of a united Glastonbury and Festival... both working for a more sustainable, fairer and greener world.
Symbols of this stronger alliance might first come in the form of special eco sculpture – made at the Festival and gifted to the town’s parks and open spaces. The theme would be creating sustainability through working together. They could reflect the elements or ‘emotives’ I have mentioned earlier.
In another move a free emailed newsletter for those who want to receive it would be something that keeps people engaged all year round with what is being planned next, what “Green Fielders” can do at home and work for the planet. The many ‘good causes’ endorsed by the Festival could include their links and news... and the connections would surely grow much further than that.
Emailed newsletters are popular everywhere. They build on the ‘brand image’ by stimulating interest, creating a link or loyalty and reinforcing the messages. It’s lovely to have the printed souvenir programme and guide, which this year was priced at £10 and ran to 82 pages. I am only now reading what I missed! A dedicated e-news would certainly have been something I would have signed up for.
Back at the Festival, perhaps one on-site innovation could be the development of a small alternative technology centre in the heart of ‘Babylon’ - the main market area. Its purpose would be to inspire and highlight what everyone can do with technological solutions, including a display of green electric cars, bikes and quads. Some readers might see the link to Glastonbury’s future here.
We need to look to the future and predicting what life will be like in say 10, 20 or 30 years time is a valuable exercise. If we predict that in just 10 years from now electric cars will be common place and festivals will have electric powered buggies, transport quads and vans (recharged by renewable energy) then how can we bring that vision forward and begin the new green age of transport at next year’s Glastonbury or the year after?
The Glastonbury Festival has a powerful voice and does do a power of good around Somerset. It brings in much needed work and incomes for thousands of people and businesses as well as giving many of us something to look forward to and feel so proud to be a part of. Moving up the scale to actually creating demand and funding the arrival of eco technology and new business is the future.
This is where I believe Glastonbury town can play its part, involving its residential environmentalists and strong ties to the Festival. Working partnerships with sponsorship from the commercial sector and government funding could see new green technology businesses benefit from the cooperation that grows between the Festival and Glastonbury.
Sometime in the future I hope we can show the Festival an eco-friendly Green Heart on Glastonbury Tor. The Tor is our most significant icon – which can be seen and filmed clearly from the Festival and the Festival can be seen from the Tor. It is a link and a way of displaying a message – in an intelligent, artistic and meaningful way. Arrangements were begun two years ago to do this, but we also need to make sure the Festival is fully supportive in order to maximise the impact and the message conveyed, nationally and internationally.
For a long time people hoped to see Glastonbury’s own permanent green technology and Eco Village business park. The Morlands was to be the focus, but plans failed. It’s true that the Town Plan did adopt the idea of creating a centre for demonstrating sustainable environmental practice and home energy alternatives at the Morlands, but the South West Regional Development Agency took a different view, in the end, to what they thought would be successful there.
This concept is still as relevant today, if not more so, as it was six years ago, when I first began discussing it with SWRDA. The one area which is still holding back this project is the need for financing some important next moves, finding a new location and enabling all the links and developments to be put in place. Linking hands with the Festival and working together could make this happen sooner, rather than later. Joining all our hands together in a great South and West circle with those from Eden and CAT (Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales) would be a very powerful union.
Ancient Glastonbury made today’s town famous for its history. Throughout the world today, people with spiritual, religious and philosophical interests make links with Glastonbury – regarding the town with much interest. UK and overseas visitors come to Glastonbury as a destination for cultural, historic and even mystic reasons because of its place in history. Now the Glastonbury Festival adds another, contemporary, dimension having undoubtedly attracted many people over the years to establish businesses here in town and encouraged green or environmental campaigning in this part of Somerset more than in any other area of the county.
Glastonbury is therefore attracting a new UK and international following because of the Festival and the environmental campaigning that has come from the Festival.
These national and international visitors come to the town all year round and a permanent connection with the Festival – exhibiting green and environmental themes – would make positive gains, even giving the Festival a platform to interpret its messages over 52 weeks of the year.
We are all in this environmental emergency together, and there isn’t much time to lose. Any advantage we can use to succeed in reconnecting people with the need to protect, conserve and sustain our fragile world is worth taking. My fourth and last emotive – ‘inspire, empower, and release the spirit for good in the world.
Together we have that powerful spirit and, incredibly, the country if not the world listens to Glastonbury!
Glastonbury the Festival and Glastonbury the town and community can and should work in partnership. In so doing the ordinary Festival fans will come here knowing they have each been responsible for making something very significant happen in a very special place.
Paul Lund
Founder,
The Sustainable Environment Company CIC (Not for private profit company, founded in Glastonbury 2006)
2nd July 2009
Those Green Fields of Glastonbury ... Could the Festival’s legacy create something special in Glastonbury?
Emotive Aims – Social and Environmental Motivations
1. Establish a feeling of peace and relaxation
2. Create interest, influence and connections
3. Join hearts and minds, create physical forms that symbolise dedication and unity towards a fairer and greener world
4. Inspire, empower, and release the spirit for good in the world
RPL.2nd July 2009
I am wondering if Glastonbury Festival isn’t now more famous than Glastonbury itself!
Well, you might think so after another ‘wall to wall’ weekend of BBC coverage, and thousands upon thousands of fans coming not to the town but to ‘Glastonbury.’ Media coverage rivals Wimbledon and BBC had nearly as many staff at Glastonbury as the Beijing Olympics.
At this time of year when people say “the festival,” you know they can only mean Glastonbury Festival, and if you are coming to Somerset in late June, to go to the Festival, then the place called Glastonbury can only mean – ‘the Festival.’ Simples!
If you look worn out and sunburnt people ask: “Have you been to Glastonbury?” Or, “What was Glastonbury like?” Such questions can only refer to the Festival! All roads lead to Glastonbury, unless you are leaving the Festival, and all of Glastonbury – just about – is at ‘Glastonbury.’
This occurrence will always be such, so long as there is a Festival. As tens of thousands of festival goers come to Glastonbury – or rather they go around Glastonbury to get to the Festival – the town has to take a back seat. I should add here that if you live in Pilton you might be one of those who still call it the “Pilton Pop Festival,” perhaps to save confusion, or just because that was how it became known in the early years. And isn’t it odd that Shepton Mallet might be half the distance to the Festival than Glastonbury is, but taking its name never quite inspired the same elegant conjugation as Glastonbury did.
So, we are thankful that Glastonbury was chosen but at the same time we don’t want to be forgotten altogether each June when the Festival moves Glastonbury 8 miles away.
Now, try this... stop and ask someone in Glastonbury “where are the Green Fields?” Their reply will be either they don’t know what you mean or they’ll direct you to the nearest grass park. Do the same at the Festival and almost everyone will know what you mean, even if they have no idea where to find them! They are famous among the festival fraternity and their successful history has probably been the inspiration for many other green festivals and events around the country.
Why am I writing about this name connection and confusion about fields?
It’s because I would like to propose and see something of the famous Festival Green Fields coming here to Glastonbury – permanently.
It strikes me that it’s high time that both major attractions shared something in common over each other’s ‘green’ success. Something that would initiate a new, more equal, relationship and bring something different to what the Extravaganza can provide between the Festival and its name sake.
What I am thinking of might be a way of working together. It could also be a solid structure, or a piece of art that communicates the ethos by which those Green Fields are best known or what they symbolise – Love our world and care for it.
Before I explain more about this, let’s just take a look over those Festival Green Fields and what they have been doing for the Festival and the local area, over the years.
Some people go to Glastonbury – the Festival – just to be part of the Green Fields and dislike the very thought of ‘Babylon,’ as it is called, which for the majority is the heart of the Festival with its noise, hustle and bustle, main stages and fast food markets. The old railway line marks the subtle change and going uphill to the stone circle you can feel a definite alternative pace, a more relaxed tempo and altogether a more tranquil mood. This is what I call an emotive and could be the first consideration or motivation in whatever might be designed or created for Glastonbury – ‘establish a feeling of peace and relaxation.’
According to the Festival map, the Green Fields take up five or six actual fields, if you include either the Greenpeace dedicated field (just below or north of the old railway line), or the Stone Circle field, the latter being more of a ‘chill-out’ zone than anywhere to find out about green issues. The main focus for sustainability, ‘green issues’ and everything eco under the (renewable/alternative energy) sun is the Green Futures field and its opposite neighbour – Croissant Neuf, which contains some green type stalls and power from solar energy.
Further south, going uphill, are the Healing and Craft fields. They also take on the mantra of being as eco-friendly as possible.
The Green Fields occupy what is now an increasingly smaller area across the whole site as the rest of the Festival has expanded. However, more of the whole Festival is now influenced by the need for sustainable environmental practice over such issues as recycling waste, renewable energy use, water and the whole issue of Fairtrade or ethical purchasing. The Festival even has its own Ethical Trader Award and now a Sustainability Coordinator, so the influence is running through the Festival’s veins and this can only be good for everyone as well as the environment.
It’s because the Festival and its Green Fields have probably, I believe, largely influenced the town of Glastonbury to the extent that today residents in the town are far more aware of green issues as a consequence, that these links should be more stated, even celebrated.
Sustainability, eco-consciousness and renewable energy have been a way of thinking for many Glastonbury people – both new settlers and the born and bred here – for a long time. Both Glastonbury Festival and the Big Green Gathering maintain offices in town, as do other green and eco inspired businesses. You could say the town has been ‘thinking green’ for 20 years or more, since the early 1990s, which equals the length of time the Festival’s campaigns and the inspiration the Green Fields have been having on the town.
The Festival’s Green Fields have probably been an encouragement for residents in Pilton too, who formed the Pilton Green Group. Shepton Mallet’s interest in forming a sustainability movement has in all probability roots back to Glastonbury Festival. The Green Fields must also have done much good for many other Somerset and UK groups, green events and individual campaigners, one way or another.
Perhaps one of the Green Field’s most acclaimed successes was to give birth to the Big Green Gathering in 1994. This festival, now in Somerset on the Mendips, attracts about 20, 000 fans, and has found its own fame as the most eco-friendly event of its size.
In my brief visit to the Glastonbury Festival Green Fields this year, I was again struck by how much effort had been made. Here were small voluntary groups who had put on good displays and were engaging with ordinary people. I was stopped twice by smiling faces and young people wanting to show me something of interest. This is such an important element of any approach if the ‘Glastonbury Green’s’ hope to engage with the ‘Glastonbury Babylonians,’ who might then go away with a new environmentally friendly attitude. Here is my second emotive – ‘create interest, influence and connections.’
As with the whole Festival – the Green Fields have changed. They are not the “hippy” commune they were years ago. Not only has the world changed its attitude to environmental issues, because of the wide spread effects of climate change, but the organisations have become more proficient in their campaigning methods and knowledge base. Of course the ‘flamboyance’ that is Glastonbury was there too and why not – after all this is a fun festival – but as soon as you did engage and listen to what was being said it was clear people knew the facts and were passionate about explaining them.
Today we are all seeking the truth and any so called ‘green-wash’ or half-baked eco ideas simply won’t pass the test. We want to hear from experts or people who know their subject and put forward a convincing argument. Glastonbury Festival has this covered and puts on an impressive list of guest speakers. In the programme lists for this year’s Green Fields you might have been lucky enough to hear: Tony Benn; Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP; Brigit Strawbridge; Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg MP; Vince Cable MP; Michael Eavis and Justin Rowlatt, to name just a few.
My suggestion or plea at this point is to ask the Green Fields to spread their messages and communications far and wide. In the age of podcasts, You Tube, on-line networking and other multi-media forms simultaneous broadcasting, reporting, and linking up with places and people around the world can be done with powerful effects. The Programme says you can find their information at www.myspace.com/greenfieldsinfo
It is still the case that in all the massive national and international broadcast television, radio and web media coming from Glastonbury, only a fraction is devoted to the Green Fields (about three minutes on BBC2 TV) and the messages and campaigners who can be found there. Some might say Green Field people like the anonymity that their quiet ‘green grass field world’ devoid of mud, provides. Others will be sceptical about how much media technology can change things. I think they could be missing a trick if they don’t do more in this direction and look at what the results show.
Will we see films of the Glastonbury Green Field speakers on the Green TV web site? I don’t know, but I think you should be able to. Like the rest of Glastonbury, media interest depends upon who’s there and major stars of stage and screen will attract more coverage. Content coming from those debates and discussions can be web-cast in various ways to audiences around the world. Put simply, the more informed we all are the more chance we have of working together to solve the problems. As the Festival message this year said: “We’re in it together” – with Greenpeace, Oxfam and Water Aid all “working together for a cleaner, greener, fairer Glastonbury.”
As with all other popular aspects of the Festival, I also think the Green Fields people could be doing more throughout the year.
Yes, it’s true this Festival is physically here for under one week out of 52, in more years than not, but the audience who desperately want to come to it each year exist all the time. They hardly change their dedication with the years either, as once hooked on Glastonbury in your youth you want to just keep on coming back, time and time again... as many do, but others find it impossible for one reason or another. They represent a market and audience with specific interests who could be engaged with news, views, ideas, and even appeals for their support.
This image that – Loving Glastonbury, then Love the World – has created goes far and wide. We don’t often see the extent of the international interest in Glastonbury, but it is worldwide.
Like me, you might know people who even wear their ‘Glasto’ wrist bands all year round or never remove their Glastonbury car window stickers – there’s something at work here too, and I don’t think it’s about people being lazy! A strong bond does exist with the fans here and opportunities to strengthen and widen that link would, I am sure, be welcomed. Here is my third emotive – ‘join hearts and minds create physical forms that symbolise dedication and unity towards a fairer and greener world.’
I imagine the Festival’s Sustainability Coordinator will recognise how linking some initiatives started at the Festival could be advantageously taken up here in Glastonbury – and vice versa. This link needs to be fostered and could bear fruit in a short while. There are two Glastonbury open green parks which traffic passes by on the way to the Festival and which, I suppose without too much effort, might host some statuesque symbols of a united Glastonbury and Festival... both working for a more sustainable, fairer and greener world.
Symbols of this stronger alliance might first come in the form of special eco sculpture – made at the Festival and gifted to the town’s parks and open spaces. The theme would be creating sustainability through working together. They could reflect the elements or ‘emotives’ I have mentioned earlier.
In another move a free emailed newsletter for those who want to receive it would be something that keeps people engaged all year round with what is being planned next, what “Green Fielders” can do at home and work for the planet. The many ‘good causes’ endorsed by the Festival could include their links and news... and the connections would surely grow much further than that.
Emailed newsletters are popular everywhere. They build on the ‘brand image’ by stimulating interest, creating a link or loyalty and reinforcing the messages. It’s lovely to have the printed souvenir programme and guide, which this year was priced at £10 and ran to 82 pages. I am only now reading what I missed! A dedicated e-news would certainly have been something I would have signed up for.
Back at the Festival, perhaps one on-site innovation could be the development of a small alternative technology centre in the heart of ‘Babylon’ - the main market area. Its purpose would be to inspire and highlight what everyone can do with technological solutions, including a display of green electric cars, bikes and quads. Some readers might see the link to Glastonbury’s future here.
We need to look to the future and predicting what life will be like in say 10, 20 or 30 years time is a valuable exercise. If we predict that in just 10 years from now electric cars will be common place and festivals will have electric powered buggies, transport quads and vans (recharged by renewable energy) then how can we bring that vision forward and begin the new green age of transport at next year’s Glastonbury or the year after?
The Glastonbury Festival has a powerful voice and does do a power of good around Somerset. It brings in much needed work and incomes for thousands of people and businesses as well as giving many of us something to look forward to and feel so proud to be a part of. Moving up the scale to actually creating demand and funding the arrival of eco technology and new business is the future.
This is where I believe Glastonbury town can play its part, involving its residential environmentalists and strong ties to the Festival. Working partnerships with sponsorship from the commercial sector and government funding could see new green technology businesses benefit from the cooperation that grows between the Festival and Glastonbury.
Sometime in the future I hope we can show the Festival an eco-friendly Green Heart on Glastonbury Tor. The Tor is our most significant icon – which can be seen and filmed clearly from the Festival and the Festival can be seen from the Tor. It is a link and a way of displaying a message – in an intelligent, artistic and meaningful way. Arrangements were begun two years ago to do this, but we also need to make sure the Festival is fully supportive in order to maximise the impact and the message conveyed, nationally and internationally.
For a long time people hoped to see Glastonbury’s own permanent green technology and Eco Village business park. The Morlands was to be the focus, but plans failed. It’s true that the Town Plan did adopt the idea of creating a centre for demonstrating sustainable environmental practice and home energy alternatives at the Morlands, but the South West Regional Development Agency took a different view, in the end, to what they thought would be successful there.
This concept is still as relevant today, if not more so, as it was six years ago, when I first began discussing it with SWRDA. The one area which is still holding back this project is the need for financing some important next moves, finding a new location and enabling all the links and developments to be put in place. Linking hands with the Festival and working together could make this happen sooner, rather than later. Joining all our hands together in a great South and West circle with those from Eden and CAT (Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales) would be a very powerful union.
Ancient Glastonbury made today’s town famous for its history. Throughout the world today, people with spiritual, religious and philosophical interests make links with Glastonbury – regarding the town with much interest. UK and overseas visitors come to Glastonbury as a destination for cultural, historic and even mystic reasons because of its place in history. Now the Glastonbury Festival adds another, contemporary, dimension having undoubtedly attracted many people over the years to establish businesses here in town and encouraged green or environmental campaigning in this part of Somerset more than in any other area of the county.
Glastonbury is therefore attracting a new UK and international following because of the Festival and the environmental campaigning that has come from the Festival.
These national and international visitors come to the town all year round and a permanent connection with the Festival – exhibiting green and environmental themes – would make positive gains, even giving the Festival a platform to interpret its messages over 52 weeks of the year.
We are all in this environmental emergency together, and there isn’t much time to lose. Any advantage we can use to succeed in reconnecting people with the need to protect, conserve and sustain our fragile world is worth taking. My fourth and last emotive – ‘inspire, empower, and release the spirit for good in the world.
Together we have that powerful spirit and, incredibly, the country if not the world listens to Glastonbury!
Glastonbury the Festival and Glastonbury the town and community can and should work in partnership. In so doing the ordinary Festival fans will come here knowing they have each been responsible for making something very significant happen in a very special place.
Paul Lund
Founder,
The Sustainable Environment Company CIC (Not for private profit company, founded in Glastonbury 2006)
2nd July 2009
Those Green Fields of Glastonbury ... Could the Festival’s legacy create something special in Glastonbury?
Emotive Aims – Social and Environmental Motivations
1. Establish a feeling of peace and relaxation
2. Create interest, influence and connections
3. Join hearts and minds, create physical forms that symbolise dedication and unity towards a fairer and greener world
4. Inspire, empower, and release the spirit for good in the world
RPL.2nd July 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
The Morlands – how it could be such a Great Green Enterprise for Glastonbury (PART 2)
In a town like Glastonbury, where more residents show concern for the environment and where eco skills and knowledge are popular, I think green issues could and should play a more fundamental role in attracting new tourists and boosting local incomes. Education or teaching of sustainability and permaculture skills could grow here, given the opportunity. Demonstration and training in the use of home renewable energy technology could also give our community an extra edge. More possibilities are open, providing new types of employment and trade, but initial resources and investment is needed and people active in these areas should be brought together to plan what can be done. The’ Glastonbury Community Town Plan 2006’ began a process in which all those involved thought they were building a lively and on-going – community owned – forward looking plan. It was hard work for those involved, but resulted in something we could all relate to because we had all made it! It was a distillation of long debates and meetings at which local people defended their reasons and proposals for improving the town’s social and economic future. We all learnt a lot about ‘consultation’ and supporting each other’s ideas. However, this, £40,000 plus, exercise has sadly fizzled out. Was it because it had not been written by Mendip Planners, or was it just a victim of new government guidelines on local planning? Whatever it was, the Plan has been left collecting dust on the shelf.It was surprising and heartening just how conscious the consultants who wrote the plan were towards the greater community of Glastonbury. They spent time speaking to as many people as they could and very expertly drew attention to the need for good marketing of what is specially made in Glastonbury, or what would help further the ‘Glastonbury’ brand and image. Glastonbury cheese and ale products already benefit. Any Glastonbury company wanting to produce retail products under the brand, especially in the food, drink and gift market, should be encouraged through the Chamber. Such things could attract more of the tourists’ ‘spending power’. We all like to take gifts back which say something about the place we have been. Certainly, when I was a child, it was Brighton Rock! Anyone going there had to bring back a stick of the pink and white confectionery for me. I’m not an economist, employment specialist or town planner, but it seems to me that building on what a town is already good at seems a better investment than trying to introduce something completely new and alien to the local culture and its sensibilities. From the late 1990’s Mendip District Council planning briefs and general community agreement was in favour of sustainable, environmental and wildlife friendly redevelopment of the Morlands. Many endorsed this and newspapers where obviously pleased to report the news.In the run up to 2000, some will remember the bid for Millennium Funds by Somerset County Council for money (£10M plus) to develop the Avalon 2000 scheme. This would have taken on the Morlands – as the “Gateway Centre” to the Levels and Moors – saying it could bring 100,000 new tourists annually to the area. They were not successful, but in their wake came other schemes including the controversial £30M commercial retail park, thought to make 500 new jobs. This so called “bulky goods Retail Park” was contested and thrown out, leaving the Morlands gates wide open for the next new owner to arrive. Smaller schemes were put up for discussion in between all this, including the “Glastonbury World Centre” – a mix of healing, spiritual, tourist and eco attractions, with a futuristic space craft shape of a building at its heart, said to resemble the Tor’s contours. Then there was the “Morlands Village” – an eco-themed sustainable and mixed use development, utilising existing buildings where practicable and including a more affordable range of options. When SWRDA took on the Morlands, around 2001/2, it seemed they had an interest in finding space for some eco/sustainability themes, but then appear to step back from all aspects of tourism, sustainability and community use. They cancelled the plan to build a combined heat and power plant (CHP) and scaled back the original phase 2 tourism and conservation plan, eventually disregarding it, passing over those sites to the authorities. Community uses became the remit of the Beckery Island Regeneration Trust (BERT), a charity who would need to raise its own funds to take over the use and refurbishment of some buildings for social and non-profit activity. The two developers – Urban Splash and Priority Sites – seemed to have no interest in providing innovative environmental designs. Their illustrated plans looked no different to any urban industrial cityscape, devoid of character and eco-interest. Their only tick for nature was their ‘lolly pop’ standard trees, in rows, surrounded by pavement – hardly the sort of thing to attract any self respecting flying wild animal.I asked one of the developers’ representatives what energy saving renewable technologies they were installing (wind turbines and solar panels). “None” was the answer, because the site’s energy needs were coming from the CHP plant. Did they know of the decision by SWRDA to cancel the CHP development? “No”, but in the very next conversation they found that one out from Morlands site manager! Furthermore, a definite decision had been made not to load on extra construction costs to the developer by installing such features from the start. They would leave that sort of thing to the end-users, either the building purchasers or leasers, they told me. I leave you to consider how likely an office renter or speculative purchaser, looking to grow their business or sell on, will want to ‘retro-fit’ a new building, not least tangle with the possibility of planning permission and uncertain savings over a short term occupancy.I think we all thought that such green measures were going to be part of the whole site’s design and would be a requirement to obtain planning consent. Unless a planner can correct me, and tell us all that Mendip will not pass plans unless they do have self energy generation measures, this is apparently not the case.It would be a great shame if this one prominent Glastonbury redevelopment site is not, after all, the sustainable eco-friendly built complex we had all envisaged. It is the “gateway” to town for most visitors and if it ends up looking like Bridgwater-off-the-M5 it will not inspire anyone. The latest revelation that SWRDA is now leaving the Morlands, or if you believe their statement, is coming to the end of its part in the overall process, leaves me to speculate what might be done to restore the community’s faith in everything that Morlands stands for or will represent in future.What do we want to see there – both in design and usage? Whilst some will say it’s all too late now, others would point out no buildings have gone up, nor has the red brick complex to the south been demolished. So, if Glastonbury wants to see a change it must rally support and campaign about exactly what we want to see there. Making your local councillor aware of what you feel is a first step, and then reporting your views to the Mid Somerset News Editor will help. I can see another demonstration of peoples’ frustrations and wish to see positive community benefits derived from the site if no action is forthcoming or people are again not listened to. Any future Mendip Planning applications, requesting permission for the Morlands, must be scrutinised meticulously and contested if they don’t show real advantage for the community and environment. Recently I was invited back to Stroud in Gloucestershire to take part in their Communiversity – a kind of symposium which incorporated outdoor walks, visits, lectures and discussion. The theme for this second annual event was ‘Inspiring self reliant communities.’ There is a full report about Stroud’s Communiversity and details about some of their social enterprises on the Glastonbury Town Council web site and possibly on other sites too.
What impressed me about Stroud’s recent revival was how they are investing in the future with social enterprise and community orientated projects leading the way.
Social enterprise is often called the ‘not-for-profit’ sector, but that more accurately applies to the charitable and voluntary organisations. It is actually ‘not-for-private-profit’ and means that companies who are working in this way can or do make a profit but without the “profit” motive being the single number one reason for being in business. They actually reinvest all their net profit, after costs, back into the community or their mission. The reason why this is a better business model for local communities is because the social enterprise companies are reinvesting their money in the local social and cultural structure. They might be supporting environmental projects, young peoples’ needs, older peoples’ needs, in fact anything that could be popular with the community or which might not otherwise find support so easily. The other factor is that these SE companies are governed by legislation and a legal requirement to use their profits in this way. An ordinary company – Limited or PLC – will give a part of its profits to its shareholders or investors, or simply reward its significant employees with pay rises. At a local level, such profit-oriented companies do not help the community – unless they wish to give away some of their money as gifts to good causes.
In reflecting back on Stroud, they have invested and built a number of enterprises which are returning not only profits but other social gains to the community. I particularly like the Made in Stroud Shop – selling a whole range of locally made arts, crafts and gifts – which brings together a wide selection of quality articles which you wouldn’t see in any other shop. Their income supports a large network of home-workers as well as their shop staff. They also run the weekly farmers markets which have to be seen to be fully appreciated. They are nothing like the Glastonbury Farmers Markets, but are part of the central shopping experience and spill out from a central covered area to the streets around. I was very surprised to be remembered by one market stall holder from my visit last year, when I bought a bottle of his locally grown wine. We had talked about the pros and cons of the cork stopper disappearing and the survival of the cork tree groves, back in August last year! And that’s all part of a successful market and shopper experience when you are an individual – rather than a passing face at the checkout. In case you are wondering, I did buy another bottle for my host in Stroud!
Other really good ventures which Stroud is promoting include their new Social Enterprise Centre.They acquired an old school building and have been converting it into a hub for small charitable and not-for-private-profit companies. With many of these start-up businesses they need a very cheap but very cheerful and supportive environment to work in. The SE Centre will provide desk space and computer and phone connections for just £5 per day. It will be fully up and running this summer and has invested in renewable energy technology - especially utilizing ground-source heat (geo-thermal) through sinking a bore hole and circulating water which is heated by the earth.
This new centre, like its predecessor, will be very much in demand and the social enterprise company Stroud Common Wealth Ltd, who manage the building, will also make a profit in future which it will put into more facilities.
This new enterprise growth and encouragement – along with their Community Supported Agriculture, Land for People, eco-housing experiment and other projects – is an excellent example of how Stroud is building a self-reliant economy and community. They are attracting attention and demonstrating how to achieve sustainable development and grow people’s income through use of their skills, ambition and energy. Their local MP, David Drew, is a keen advocate of Stroud’s enterprising culture, as are the town’s councillors – dominated by members of the Green Party.
So what can we take from Stroud as examples of workable and effective models for local enterprise? We don’t need to sell off our valuable spaces and buildings or become mesmerized by the thought of outside commercial interests providing the new jobs and incomes. After all, they are unlikely to give anything back to the community’s culture and long term economic survival.
The Morlands red brick buildings – to the southern tip of the site, adjoining the old Mill Cottage – are still in contention. Their future is not certain but community proposals for their restoration could turn this area into a valuable and energized community of social enterprise and small self-employed traders who need space at low cost but with added advantages.
Another use for these buildings or others in town could be in the shape of a Green College. Readers of my previous blog and letters published in the newspaper will recognize this idea. At this stage it is worth leaving open just what this College might be able to do and how it could be part of an existing academic network or an independent charitable trust.
There is still another potential development that would bring together many of the town’s ideas and wishes to see the Morlands as a ‘green-lifestyle’ example in practice. The idea to showcase how people can make changes at home and at work – beneficial to the environment and need to bring down our carbon emissions – could be exemplified through the way the Morlands is brought together under new direction.
Demonstration schemes and a centre for exhibiting the latest efficiency savings possible at home and work, still remain as vital and relevant today as when I first began discussing the idea with SWRDA in 2002/3. Since then the idea has become a supported plan and given the backing of the community through the Glastonbury Community Town Plan 2006.
To develop the vision a little more – the centre could be built in the space surrounded on two sides by the old red brick Morlands buildings. It would form a centre piece and “gateway” into Glastonbury – since this area is the narrow opening for the A361 where motorists pass between a narrow gap between buildings both sides, and enter onto the Morlands frontage proper, with the way ahead to Glastonbury town centre, or Street in the southerly direction.
The design and structure of this building would be open to the architects’ imagination and influences of the landscape, and desire to make it a cutting edge sustainable construction. What it would house would be a range of new and exciting demonstrations, showcase examples, and interactive exhibitions about renewable energy generation, home efficiency savings, lifestyle choices, the place of humans in the environment and how we depend upon sustainable ecological processes to live and grow food. Food and the local economy would feature, with special links to producers and markets. The Centre would be run as a hub for work extending out into communities all over Somerset. It would, in fact, be the first such public demonstration centre of its kind in Somerset, but in other parts of the UK similar centres are very effective and popular as tourist attractions and resource providers.
Such a building needs to be sustainable not just in design, materials and all its functioning technology (heating, lighting, electricity supply), but also in income terms. To achieve this it will have to be economically viable in the long term – generating enough income to maintain aspects which are not supported through grant aid. Some thought has gone into this and what has emerged is a design that incorporates a café/restaurant, a green shop, a film theatre which shows digital films and encourages local film and video students to produce new material.
Also included was a media studio – capable of broadcast links to professional radio networks and as a possible base for a new eco radio service (linking to the world of wildlife media that exists in Bristol). This facility would clearly have other benefits and could become a teaching and creative base for young people.
Yet another proposal was to include small office units that could be used by local charity organisations and social enterprises, which would benefit by working closely together and being part of the whole Centre enterprise. They would enjoy subsidized rents and have the resources of the Centre and its community development team to help and encourage them. This closely resembles the Stroud example and we would work with their staff to create the most efficient model of success.
Still more ideas exist for utilizing outside space to accommodate travelling road shows – perhaps a weekend of wind turbine demonstrations, or a seasonal weekday given to growing fruit and veg at home with practical cookery demonstrations and an atmosphere of community gathering and social entertainment.
The ethos for such a complex could be summed up in the five ‘E’s’ – Environment, Ecology, Enterprise, Education and Entertainment.
To answer the critics head on – jobs would be created and jobs would be supported. If you would like to look at an example, try the Southampton Environment Centre. It started work with three people, but grew to 25 posts with a substantial turnover. They also dealt with supplying advice and green consultancy to local businesses – something we could also do.
Not that many jobs, you say? Well, this is only taking over a small part of the Morlands land. The Brick built buildings would add more jobs and could be part of the same management company running – what we call – the Sustainable Environment Centre. If you then take on more plots and look at how we could make further sustainable developments just look at the success shown by the Centre for Alternative Technology in North Wales, or the – often quoted here – Eden Project. I believe we could create not duplicate copies of these popular tourist attractions, but extensions of their missions.
We have particular issues here in Somerset which call for different approaches, but working together with the pioneers of these two highly effective and successful enterprises we could even outstrip the number of jobs being supported by the Morlands under SWRDA – because what we would be doing is creating projects which develop new opportunities across the county.
If this strikes a note with you and you could support such an idea, then I would ask you to make your voice heard and write in to this site and to the newspaper. Call Glastonbury FM and tell them that you would like to hear more about Glastonbury’s green plans and current projects. Ask your local councillor what he or she is doing to support these issues and make sure that the Morlands turns out to be a green icon for Somerset and not a white elephant that attracts only out of town companies - unconnected to Glastonbury’s focus as a tourist and visitor attraction.
I don’t know if we can start afresh with the Morlands. It might already be too late as work goes ahead on the mundane office units. However, there is considerable interest to save the remaining standing buildings and try to find the finance to bring them into either public or charitable/social ownership and then turn them into spaces or community zones for the type of ventures I have described.
Even if this fails, there are still other locations around town which could become available for redevelopment. We need to be ready to put forward viable plans which can be financed and give the opportunity to create something we can all be very proud of.
Lastly, I just want to say that we are all responsible, as citizens, for how our local environment is used. It is too often the case that people just feel helpless and think towns and cities are ruled by planners and officials, with no place for ordinary people with fine ideas. Councillors are local people who have been voted in by their communities to represent, dare I say, the popular view, but also to make decisions based upon wise and thorough consideration of what is best for that community’s future. If you think your councillor would like to hear your views then I urge you to do something about it. If you also think your councillor is not working hard to further the long term interests of the town, then you know what to do at the next election.
What impressed me about Stroud’s recent revival was how they are investing in the future with social enterprise and community orientated projects leading the way.
Social enterprise is often called the ‘not-for-profit’ sector, but that more accurately applies to the charitable and voluntary organisations. It is actually ‘not-for-private-profit’ and means that companies who are working in this way can or do make a profit but without the “profit” motive being the single number one reason for being in business. They actually reinvest all their net profit, after costs, back into the community or their mission. The reason why this is a better business model for local communities is because the social enterprise companies are reinvesting their money in the local social and cultural structure. They might be supporting environmental projects, young peoples’ needs, older peoples’ needs, in fact anything that could be popular with the community or which might not otherwise find support so easily. The other factor is that these SE companies are governed by legislation and a legal requirement to use their profits in this way. An ordinary company – Limited or PLC – will give a part of its profits to its shareholders or investors, or simply reward its significant employees with pay rises. At a local level, such profit-oriented companies do not help the community – unless they wish to give away some of their money as gifts to good causes.
In reflecting back on Stroud, they have invested and built a number of enterprises which are returning not only profits but other social gains to the community. I particularly like the Made in Stroud Shop – selling a whole range of locally made arts, crafts and gifts – which brings together a wide selection of quality articles which you wouldn’t see in any other shop. Their income supports a large network of home-workers as well as their shop staff. They also run the weekly farmers markets which have to be seen to be fully appreciated. They are nothing like the Glastonbury Farmers Markets, but are part of the central shopping experience and spill out from a central covered area to the streets around. I was very surprised to be remembered by one market stall holder from my visit last year, when I bought a bottle of his locally grown wine. We had talked about the pros and cons of the cork stopper disappearing and the survival of the cork tree groves, back in August last year! And that’s all part of a successful market and shopper experience when you are an individual – rather than a passing face at the checkout. In case you are wondering, I did buy another bottle for my host in Stroud!
Other really good ventures which Stroud is promoting include their new Social Enterprise Centre.They acquired an old school building and have been converting it into a hub for small charitable and not-for-private-profit companies. With many of these start-up businesses they need a very cheap but very cheerful and supportive environment to work in. The SE Centre will provide desk space and computer and phone connections for just £5 per day. It will be fully up and running this summer and has invested in renewable energy technology - especially utilizing ground-source heat (geo-thermal) through sinking a bore hole and circulating water which is heated by the earth.
This new centre, like its predecessor, will be very much in demand and the social enterprise company Stroud Common Wealth Ltd, who manage the building, will also make a profit in future which it will put into more facilities.
This new enterprise growth and encouragement – along with their Community Supported Agriculture, Land for People, eco-housing experiment and other projects – is an excellent example of how Stroud is building a self-reliant economy and community. They are attracting attention and demonstrating how to achieve sustainable development and grow people’s income through use of their skills, ambition and energy. Their local MP, David Drew, is a keen advocate of Stroud’s enterprising culture, as are the town’s councillors – dominated by members of the Green Party.
So what can we take from Stroud as examples of workable and effective models for local enterprise? We don’t need to sell off our valuable spaces and buildings or become mesmerized by the thought of outside commercial interests providing the new jobs and incomes. After all, they are unlikely to give anything back to the community’s culture and long term economic survival.
The Morlands red brick buildings – to the southern tip of the site, adjoining the old Mill Cottage – are still in contention. Their future is not certain but community proposals for their restoration could turn this area into a valuable and energized community of social enterprise and small self-employed traders who need space at low cost but with added advantages.
Another use for these buildings or others in town could be in the shape of a Green College. Readers of my previous blog and letters published in the newspaper will recognize this idea. At this stage it is worth leaving open just what this College might be able to do and how it could be part of an existing academic network or an independent charitable trust.
There is still another potential development that would bring together many of the town’s ideas and wishes to see the Morlands as a ‘green-lifestyle’ example in practice. The idea to showcase how people can make changes at home and at work – beneficial to the environment and need to bring down our carbon emissions – could be exemplified through the way the Morlands is brought together under new direction.
Demonstration schemes and a centre for exhibiting the latest efficiency savings possible at home and work, still remain as vital and relevant today as when I first began discussing the idea with SWRDA in 2002/3. Since then the idea has become a supported plan and given the backing of the community through the Glastonbury Community Town Plan 2006.
To develop the vision a little more – the centre could be built in the space surrounded on two sides by the old red brick Morlands buildings. It would form a centre piece and “gateway” into Glastonbury – since this area is the narrow opening for the A361 where motorists pass between a narrow gap between buildings both sides, and enter onto the Morlands frontage proper, with the way ahead to Glastonbury town centre, or Street in the southerly direction.
The design and structure of this building would be open to the architects’ imagination and influences of the landscape, and desire to make it a cutting edge sustainable construction. What it would house would be a range of new and exciting demonstrations, showcase examples, and interactive exhibitions about renewable energy generation, home efficiency savings, lifestyle choices, the place of humans in the environment and how we depend upon sustainable ecological processes to live and grow food. Food and the local economy would feature, with special links to producers and markets. The Centre would be run as a hub for work extending out into communities all over Somerset. It would, in fact, be the first such public demonstration centre of its kind in Somerset, but in other parts of the UK similar centres are very effective and popular as tourist attractions and resource providers.
Such a building needs to be sustainable not just in design, materials and all its functioning technology (heating, lighting, electricity supply), but also in income terms. To achieve this it will have to be economically viable in the long term – generating enough income to maintain aspects which are not supported through grant aid. Some thought has gone into this and what has emerged is a design that incorporates a café/restaurant, a green shop, a film theatre which shows digital films and encourages local film and video students to produce new material.
Also included was a media studio – capable of broadcast links to professional radio networks and as a possible base for a new eco radio service (linking to the world of wildlife media that exists in Bristol). This facility would clearly have other benefits and could become a teaching and creative base for young people.
Yet another proposal was to include small office units that could be used by local charity organisations and social enterprises, which would benefit by working closely together and being part of the whole Centre enterprise. They would enjoy subsidized rents and have the resources of the Centre and its community development team to help and encourage them. This closely resembles the Stroud example and we would work with their staff to create the most efficient model of success.
Still more ideas exist for utilizing outside space to accommodate travelling road shows – perhaps a weekend of wind turbine demonstrations, or a seasonal weekday given to growing fruit and veg at home with practical cookery demonstrations and an atmosphere of community gathering and social entertainment.
The ethos for such a complex could be summed up in the five ‘E’s’ – Environment, Ecology, Enterprise, Education and Entertainment.
To answer the critics head on – jobs would be created and jobs would be supported. If you would like to look at an example, try the Southampton Environment Centre. It started work with three people, but grew to 25 posts with a substantial turnover. They also dealt with supplying advice and green consultancy to local businesses – something we could also do.
Not that many jobs, you say? Well, this is only taking over a small part of the Morlands land. The Brick built buildings would add more jobs and could be part of the same management company running – what we call – the Sustainable Environment Centre. If you then take on more plots and look at how we could make further sustainable developments just look at the success shown by the Centre for Alternative Technology in North Wales, or the – often quoted here – Eden Project. I believe we could create not duplicate copies of these popular tourist attractions, but extensions of their missions.
We have particular issues here in Somerset which call for different approaches, but working together with the pioneers of these two highly effective and successful enterprises we could even outstrip the number of jobs being supported by the Morlands under SWRDA – because what we would be doing is creating projects which develop new opportunities across the county.
If this strikes a note with you and you could support such an idea, then I would ask you to make your voice heard and write in to this site and to the newspaper. Call Glastonbury FM and tell them that you would like to hear more about Glastonbury’s green plans and current projects. Ask your local councillor what he or she is doing to support these issues and make sure that the Morlands turns out to be a green icon for Somerset and not a white elephant that attracts only out of town companies - unconnected to Glastonbury’s focus as a tourist and visitor attraction.
I don’t know if we can start afresh with the Morlands. It might already be too late as work goes ahead on the mundane office units. However, there is considerable interest to save the remaining standing buildings and try to find the finance to bring them into either public or charitable/social ownership and then turn them into spaces or community zones for the type of ventures I have described.
Even if this fails, there are still other locations around town which could become available for redevelopment. We need to be ready to put forward viable plans which can be financed and give the opportunity to create something we can all be very proud of.
Lastly, I just want to say that we are all responsible, as citizens, for how our local environment is used. It is too often the case that people just feel helpless and think towns and cities are ruled by planners and officials, with no place for ordinary people with fine ideas. Councillors are local people who have been voted in by their communities to represent, dare I say, the popular view, but also to make decisions based upon wise and thorough consideration of what is best for that community’s future. If you think your councillor would like to hear your views then I urge you to do something about it. If you also think your councillor is not working hard to further the long term interests of the town, then you know what to do at the next election.
The Morlands – how it could be such a Great Green Enterprise for Glastonbury (PART 1)
I have been following the debate over the Glastonbury Morlands since 2001, when all previous plans for the derelict site had failed and the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) arrived to save the day. SWRDA agreed to invest their millions and bring new prosperity to Glastonbury, creating jobs to replace those lost in what some said had been a decline in the town’s fortunes, ever since the old sheepskin (tannery) industry went and the whole business no longer employed the numbers it once did.Since then the problems of the Morlands have never been far from the news headlines locally and continue to exacerbate even the mildest mannered citizens who say it’s a disgrace that almost £20 million has been spent in eight years without a single new brick laid.In fact a few new bricks and some old rocks have been laid, but around culverts and to build bridge heads, plus a fair few tonnes of tarmac laid to make roads around the site, where previously there had been over 20 years of abandoned buildings – overgrown by buddleia and brambles. The Morlands factory closed in 1982, but the site was in fact two separate companies with the Bailey factory operating out of the buildings in the north area, where the tall chimney is seen. When you look at the site today, you see how little space is left now that 31 acres of land are carved up with ‘B’ size roads and a ‘landscaped’ roundabout. A mosaic of rubble strewn plots is left, colonised by a colourful variety of first year wasteland flora. These areas are intended for redevelopment into what SWRDA originally said (2002) would become a unique sustainable enterprise park, but plans released in 2007 looked like it would become any ordinary city industrial estate – probably attracting affluent users who could afford the developers prices.The Morlands / SWRDA debacle, and the political fall-out over what has or has not been successful, has gone on far too long and has done Glastonbury no favours. None of the politicians have had any discernable impact on the way SWRDA has conducted its business here. I think it would have been different if we had strong local leadership and strict requirements for SWRDA to report frequently, setting targets for progress. The Agency’s communications with the local public have been lamentable. I know – having been drawn in by the statements its staff made, and going to public viewings of their plans which encouraged me to ask what would they be doing to demonstrate their system for renewable energy. I was keen to be involved and saw the potential for something new and environmental. They were encouraging and told me a plan to develop a public centre for demonstrating renewable energy technologies could fit into their scheme, but it would need support and self financing. My task would be to organise support and build a project. However, over the past four to five years of communications with SWRDA this has proved utterly frustrating, resulting in my team of local people and experts, plus all the public support that was raised, being completely disregarded in the end. Such unprofessional conduct and inattention to community opinion should not have been allowed to continue; certainly not left to this extent were no one has any faith in the SWRDA. The fact the SWRDA is only accountable to Government ministers is, of course, the reason why no one seems to be able to touch them. Numerous examples show how local people count for least, with local politicians faring little better.All of this just might seem more palatable if Glastonbury was actually going to benefit from the type of business premises to be built on the site, or from the influx of new companies from outside that we were told would relocate to them, or if real encouragement and investment for local enterprise was coming with the package. Nowhere have I read the case for how the SWRDA’s favoured technology companies are going to bring prosperity to Glastonbury, but if anyone can shed light on this please write in. I believe we should expect and deserve the sort of redevelopment that is at the leading edge of green building technology. My recollection is that this was in fact promised, under option 3 “green industries” in 2002. The other two options, “tourism” and “workplace employment” both had sustainable principles in their plans. That was probably what encouraged the imagination that Glastonbury would be moving into a new era of award-winning architecture with eco-friendly green technology at its heart. What better statement and message to give to the South West by a Government funded development agency than to have an enterprise redevelopment that set the benchmark for all future commercial building projects. However, the final choice went to option 2 “employment” as the focus, after all the consultations had shown local people were in favour of eco options, recycling, tourism and community uses.Aside from the uses that buildings might be put to, I can’t think why every roofed structure, wall and engineered surface should not be individually assessed and designed to include the latest energy efficiency controls, intelligent use of solar radiant heat, natural air conditioning by design, solar photovoltaic capture for electricity generation and ground source heat extraction, plus other energy recycling/generation methods. And it shouldn’t stop there. Enhancing the visual environment is so important to our lives and the way we work. Humans are part of nature and we need to be connected with the living environment all around us or we fail to see our place in the whole scheme.The whole Morlands site needed eco design and infrastructure, maximising self sufficiency from the start. What we have seen so far is standard – grid energy – electric connections installed. What should have been a technology park for the future is looking more and more outdated as time goes by – and that’s also because the basic designs drawn up in 2007 are no longer going to meet current trends and the need to drastically reduce our carbon emissions. This is also no longer about the fact it will not attract any company wishing to increase its green credentials – through a move to modern eco-tech headquarters – but now enough evidence exists that all new developments must be ‘future-proofed’ to a standard that will achieve the Government’s C02 targets of 80% reduction in green house gasses by 2050, as set out in the Climate Change Act 2008.Looking to the town’s future, the original intent by the SWRDA was to include provisions for the younger workforce. But who has seen plans for investment in young people – their hopes and ambitions? Where will dedicated low cost, serviced enterprise accommodation, providing start-up support, mentoring and physical resources be located? With all the money SWRDA has (or had) to invest in community development and regeneration they are surely the ideal organisation capable of funding such vital work. In place of such detail we have been given the allure of “hundreds of jobs” to be created. I certainly feel that local politicians have been too quick to jump on the simplistic job creation headlines, which SWRDA have heralded as their mission here. Of course ‘jobs’ are wanted, but the idea that SWRDA could create 400 or more new jobs was far too intoxicating for some who saw this as the answer to reducing Glastonbury’s higher than average local unemployment rate. It reminds me of the authorities who built high rise blocks because they provided cheap and plentiful “homes” for people. That policy, with hindsight, was wrong. It led to social and economic deprivation, and planners eventually conceded quality environments, not dense tower blocks, were the answer. In the same way I don’t think the “any jobs” will do approach is the answer. Just because they simply reduce numbers of unemployed is not good enough and will not answer the long term need for creating a sustainable economic situation. If you only dig a little deeper the picture emerges of the type of jobs Glastonbury people might see advertised at the newly redeveloped SWRDA ‘high tech’ Morlands Enterprise Park. Temporary construction workers or labourers are promised – to be recruited locally. Industrial and office units will require cleaning, catering and security workers. Some office clerical or warehousing might come. Plus, you might include the Tesco jobs that could appear as a consequence of Avalon Plastics moving to the Morlands and selling up their old factory site just north of the Morlands.The ‘high tech’ end of the jobs market – to quote SWRDA in the form of “ICT, aerospace” (which could include military defence applications) and “environmental technology” (somewhat misleading and not necessarily the eco-friendly type either) – would more than likely come with the immigrant companies (their managers would be encouraged to relocate to the new Houndwood housing estate in Street... had timescales not fallen out of sync). We are not big on aerospace in Glastonbury, so – unless I am much mistaken – there’s not much likelihood of finding many suitable candidates around here to fill those types of posts. I would also like to understand (?) how aerospace businesses will boost the Glastonbury economy, as one councillor described. What advantage do they think we will gain? Perhaps this will come as the ‘high tech’ employees start spending their money in Glastonbury, in the supermarkets maybe? Investing in better tourism services would be the best bet since government defence cuts could sever the defence technology lifeline, and as one local food campaigner said – “what have supermarkets ever done for us?” For anyone not familiar with the trade that Glastonbury does do well in, I need only mention the three best historic attractions - Glastonbury Abbey, the Tor and Chalice Well Gardens. These are popular visitor attractions, as is the area’s spiritual and esoteric history, its contemporary “alternative” influence – with retail and service trades – and not forgetting the seasonal influence of local outdoor festivals, camps and conferences. Trade in ‘catering’ to tourists’ needs, retail, self-employment and holiday / guest house accommodation is what is keeping the town alive. You might also include in this – events such as the carnivals and Glastonbury extravaganza, though others will say they make little difference economically to the town, other than possible B&B incomes. Glastonbury is therefore an important tourist attraction and a magnet or settlement for artists, musicians, writers, therapists, performers, who mainly derive their income from the visitors. As well as this we have the ordinary social and ‘home-servicing’ trades and professions you would find anywhere. So, ask yourself the question – what would grow the economy and provide more stability for our rural market or tourist town? Now consider the longer term and what the future may hold. What is it we need to do that will increase or keep us vibrant in tourism, or what might even decrease our attractiveness, or tarnish our peace loving image, if we are not careful? Have you arrived at something you think we would be good at doing? More of the same perhaps or fresh built attractions? Maybe you think better and newer services for tourists will work or some unusual visitor attractions? What about something to attract festival fans to stay longer, and spend more of their cash locally even? Creative thinkers will come up with propositions that keep the festival enterprise and spin-offs alive all year round.A report in the Central Somerset Gazette (21.5.09) said “Events, carnivals and festivals are a vital part of the local economy and provide a major art attraction for the people living in the county.” It also said these kinds of events attracted over 2 million visitors to the area in 2008. With uncertain climatic conditions arriving, instability in world economics and possible energy supply shortages, there is increasing realisation that communities everywhere will need to be more self-reliant for their basic needs. Any home grown skills, abilities, attractions or resources will become more important. A technology or enterprise park that can be virtually self sufficient in energy and offer something for the area’s visitors will fare better in such a future. This is not conjecture, its fact.In my next blog I would like to explore what has captured the imagination and set pulses racing for the people in Stroud and how similar enterprises could make a difference for Glastonbury, plus what the Morlands should contain and provide for the community if we could start afresh with a dedicated community zone on site.
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