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.