UPDATE : THE BUILDING WALES MOST NEEDS

The Mother of All Call Centres Proposed for Former Post Office in Cardiff Bay

As entries continue to pour in for the STRICTLY NEXT BEST DRAGONS LAIR TALENT FACTOR CELEBRITY APPRENTICE BUILD OFF ON ICE contest scheduled for 20 June at the Welsh School of Architecture, heavyweight contenders have started to outline their proposals. The Norman Fester Partnership have given a nostalgic local twist to this variation on their famous Peking and Taiwan Bank building with a strictly commercial take on The Building Wales Most Needs. Taking their cue from Cardiff City Councils recent Green Paper, Rebuilding Momentum, the Fester Partnerships theme is jobs, jobs, jobs. This vast call centre proposed for the long derelict post office building that once served Cardiff Docks will be built adjacent to the Bay railway station giving direct rail access to the vast hordes of unemployed in the Valleys. "Sustainability is the priority of our practice" said Fester, speaking on a cell phone from his private jet. 

If selected by the judges, the building, when completed, will be the tallest in Wales and its shadow will fall on Bristol at sunset. The proposed Subway food outlet on its ground floor will be the largest outside London and the building will have more urinals than Wembley Stadium.

If shortlisted Norman Fester is unlikely to appear to present with other contestants at the Birtacres Theatre on 20 June. The organisers insurers have indicated that they would be unable to underwrite any damage to his ego if his practice were unsuccessful.

THE BUILDING WALES MOST NEEDS

Following the relative success of last years contribution to the Love Architecture Festival, the reading of Under Plywood by Thomas Dylan, The Welsh Architects Theatre Studio are this year proposing a new form of talent contest. This follows the method, now  preferred by Government, of inviting competitive proposals for selection by a group of people, notable principally for their celebrity, not knowledge or wisdom, to select projects for scarce funding.

STRICTLY CELEBRITY NEXT BEST DRAGONS LAIR DESIGN TALENT FACTOR CELEBRITY BUILD- OFF CONTEST ON ICE

The contest will bring to the already problematic area of architectural competition the moral dimension of the present Government, popular press and the televised talent contest. Five short listed contestants will present to an all- star panel competing for funding from the ILF (Imaginary Lottery Fund) for The Building Wales Most Needs. The contestants will present their proposals using slides or appropriate media and be questioned as to viability, feasibility, sustainability and rationality by the panel and audience. 

Each contestant will then be subjected to ordeal by local cuisine;

The Taff Tucker Trial

1.       Clarkes pie + Bacardi Breezer

2.       Pot Noodle + Malibu

3.       Guinness and Tia Maria

4.       Onion bhajee + Pint of Brains SA

5.       Cockles + Strongbow

The event will be hosted by the Welsh School of Architecture at the Birtacres Theatre on Thursday 20 June 2013 (TBC).

The Small Print

The competition is open to all professions active in Wales and its colonies.

Additional points will be awarded for most imaginative use of S106 Agreements.

The final decision of the judges will be arbitrary.

The winners will be given full coverage in the Welsh edition of Hello! magazine, Hiya!/S’mae? And be mentioned in passing on Radio Wales.

PROVISIONAL LIST OF ENTRANTS                                             PROPOSAL

Frank Lloyd George and Partners	A Museum of Welsh Aspirations
Zahara Wadid ap Rhys	Temporary Toilets for National Eisteddfod
T.B.C	Offshore Tax-Free Green Sustainable Casino, Brothel and Bird Sanctuary on Flat Holm Island

FROM BAUHAUS TO BUNNY CLUB

 

If you wanted a hotel on the Monopoly board then Park Lane is where you would put it. Someone has finally put another at 45 Park Lane London W1, but only after a long and varied history of development in this location.  Perhaps the most bizarre episode was the grey concrete building ‘designed’ by Walter Gropius which became, for  years, the home of the Playboy Club in the UK. The origins of this are related in The Property Boom by Oliver Marriott. (1)

Jack Cotton, the flamboyant post-war property developer, first enlisted the assistance of Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus and one of the pioneers of modern architecture, to assist following his catastrophic proposals to redevelop the Monico site at Piccadilly Circus. Where many other post-war developers, such as Harry Hyams and Rudolph Palumbo, sought to avoid wider attention to their activities, Cotton, a relentless self –publicist, had by 1959 increasingly come to believe in that publicity. In October he held a press conference to announce to the world his development of the Pan Am Building above Grand Central Station in New York. Flush with that triumph he held his second press conference in seven days to unveil his proposals for Piccadilly Circus. The planning committee of London County Council had already agreed to grant consent - but for one small technicality which remained outstanding. The reaction to the plans and model he displayed at the press conference was one of horror and the Minister of Housing stepped in to call an enquiry. That would have been impossible had Cotton waited until the technicality had been agreed with the planning authority before making his announcement. Marriott conveys the subsequent disfavour of the development proposals by quoting the planning inspector appointed, Colin Buchanan, later famous for the Buchanan Report.

“The applicants must now greatly regret that they put out the perspective sketch which they did at Mr Cotton’s press conference in October 1959. This was a drawing showing the building with a crane on top, and a large advertisement ‘Snap Plom For Vigour’ on the main front panel. Had this not been issued it is a fair guess that the building would now be in course of erection……It does not surprise me that strong feelings have been aroused, for the building could scarcely have been presented in a cruder light.

Following that rejection Cotton persisted with his attempts to redevelop the Monico site for many years and eventually enlisted the world famous Gropius to advance that aim. Until then, Cottons buildings had been designed by his own firm of architects, Cotton, Ballard and Blow, of which he was the principal.  This developer/ architect arrangement appears rather strange fifty years later and Marriott notes that it was rare even then. He comments that the resulting buildings were no better or worse than the post-war average for speculative office buildings but Cotton never sponsored any development of much aesthetic distinction. The Pan Am building may be the exception - although that was fiercely criticised in New York. In the event, producing one of the 20^th centuries most famous architects as his adviser did not resolve Cotton’s problems at the Monico site. He did however set Gropius to work on another property that he had acquired at 45 Park Lane.

 Marriott states that this was a Victorian mansion built in 1868 which had been the home of the banker, Sir Phillip Sassoon and, before that the site had been occupied by the diamond magnate, Barney Barnato. Unfortunately this would appear to be incorrect as it would make for an even more ripping yarn. Other sources identify the Sassoon mansion as being at 25 Park Lane.

 Barnato, a semi-literate cockney born in Petticoat Lane was the son of a professional bar-room bouncer and tapster. After a brief career as a prize fighter and music hall turn he followed his brother to South Africa.  There he made a vast fortune in the Kimberley diamond mines and hired Spencer House on his return to London. In 1896 he attended court to stand bail for a friend and gave his address to the magistrate. “But that’s Lord Spencer’s House. Are you his major domo?” demanded the magistrate. “I’m my own bloody domo” shouted back Barnato, the very incarnation of the proverbial ‘rough diamond.’ (2)

Unfortunately he did not live to see the great mansion he was building at Park Lane. He suffered a breakdown, probably delirium tremens, and fell of the ship, an assumed suicide, on his way back from a visit to South Africa. His considerable fortune was divided between his family including his sister Sarah and her husband Abraham Rantzen, great-grandparents of TV presenter Esther Rantzen.

However, to return to the Jack Cotton saga, the architects at Cotton, Ballard and Blow had already completed the preliminary plans when he met Gropius and brought him in to design the elevation of the proposed building. As a result the planning application proceeded smoothly, although virtually the only aesthetic difference was that the building was faced with concrete blocks not Portland Stone as originally intended. This might, given the modus operandii of the post-war developers, have been expected to bring about a cost saving and consequent increase in the potential profit. In this case Marriott notes that the main effect of employing Gropius – apart, perhaps, from the mesmeric impact of his name on the planning authority- was to increase the total cost of the project from £650,000 to £800,000. The completed building was no more or less distinguished than any other speculative office building of the period but, by stroke of fortune, it was the only vacant building between the Dorchester and Hilton Hotels on Park Lane. The Playboy Club deemed this the only suitable location for its first foray into Great Britain in 1966 and Cotton was able to let it to them for a higher rental than the prevailing rate for offices at that time.

Walter Gropius was described by Paul Klee as ‘The Silver Prince’, and by Tom Wolfe as “the most dazzling figure of European architecture during the inter-war years of the 20^th century …….irresistibly handsome to women to women, correct and urbane in a classic German manner…….. a figure of calm certitude and conviction at the centre of the maelstrom” It is not known whether he visited his Park Lane creation once occupied by the Playboy Club and dubbed "the Hutch on the Park".  From the foregoing description he might well have held his own with the venue's other clientele which included actors Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Joan Collins, and footballer George Best. As to the Bunny Girls and their outfits it is again regrettable that it was his Bauhaus colleague, Mies van der Rohe who coined the phrase ‘less is more’.(3)

The Playboy Club closed in 1982, following a police raid over suspected illegal gambling, despite no subsequent evidence of wrongdoing. It lay vacant for 13 years until in 2008 Westminster City Council gave consent for conversion into a luxury hotel. In its press release the Council stated that “the outside of the grey concrete-clad building will be redesigned to be made more harmonious with the mixture of neo-Georgian blocks and eighteenth century buildings which line Park Lane and surrounding streets.”  (4) In keeping with the slightly surreal history of the building the press release went on to say that the designs had been drawn up by starchitect Thierry W Despont, who has created homes for the likes of Bill Gates and Calvin Klein and collaborated on the Getty Center galleries in Los Angeles. His resulting confection is a homage to art deco, the ‘drab concrete’ exterior being re-clad with metal fins. Neo-Georgian in this instance may be a tongue in cheek reference to the corresponding reigns of Georges V or VI?

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

1.     The Property Boom                        Oliver Marriott

2.       The London Rich                             Peter Thorrold

3.       Bauhaus to Our House                   Tom Wolfe

4.       http://www.westminster.gov.uk/press-releases/2008-09/star-architect-to-turn-former-playboy-club-into-ma/

IT'S DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN............

The Welsh Government have this week advertised seeking expressions of interest from those who might undertake research on Retail Planning & Town Centre Viability. The stated aim is to study the threats and opportunities facing town centres in Wales, the effectiveness of retail planning policy and advice in protecting them, and where changes or improvements are required to make appropriate recommendations. The stated objectives are:

•To undertake a quantitative analysis of the retail dynamics in Wales.

•To undertake a qualitative analysis of the impact of retail development on town centres in Wales.

•Consider the appropriateness of the current national planning policy in achieving the Welsh Government's aspirations for town centres and make recommendations for improvements to the planning system.

It would appear that the only outcome will be to advise the regional government as to how the stable door might have been locked long after the sellers of horsemeat have bolted.

In seeking to improve planning guidance on retail there might be several ways of avoiding what will probably be considerable expense in commissioning yet another roaming gang of 'regeneration experts' to squirt out yet more verbal diarrhea. They could, for example, refer to the advice in TAN 99 - How To Fuck Up A City. Whilst directed at the larger settlements these provisions are relevant to the health and well being of the Valley Towns.

As regards In- Town Retail, for example, TAN 99 notes that the collective pursuit of abundance is central to the urban experience and retail activity essential to ensure vibrant town and cities. Extensive research has established that people are most comfortable with familiar surroundings and, to this end planning policy has been formulated to ensure that the retail centres of our towns and cities look as much like each other as possible. It recognises that, in many cases little can be done about the architecture and urban space but illuminated signage of familiar brands can achieve a satisfactory level of homogenisation. The traditional shopping street presents challenges, not least those of the Welsh climate and enclosed shopping malls are to be encouraged. This may be achieved through an Exciting Town Centre Regeneration Scheme which can be carried out in partnership with a private sector developer. The Welsh Government no longer has the resources to assist such projects but local planning authorities are encouraged to enter into such arrangements with the private sector as they see fit. The public realm is there to be exploited in these straightened times and local authorties are to be encouraged to bundle it up and flog it off.

The Welsh Government has of course acted on the recommendations of TAN 99 to preserve the vibrancy of our traditional town and city centres. There are already strict controls on out of town shopping development. Planning consent for open retail may only be granted to two more of each of the major foodstore operators on each of the main distributor roads at the edge of Welsh towns or cities. The only exceptions to this is development associated with stadium development (See Sport), regeneration, community enhancement or at the Ministers discretion. Certain other exemptions may apply where such development is deemed to be in the public interest, contributions to party political funds being included in such definition. And of course planning 'gain' - such as a new roundabout or traffic lights.

Town centre shopping is of course largely a leisure undertaking now but a sub heading of 'retail leisure might deal adequately with the purchase of other forms of self- gratification. Much exemplary work has been carried out in this area, particularly in historic commercial centres where banks and places of business have been converted to Boozeramas. Where such areas are duly designated a Café Quarter planning consent and necessary licensing for such establishments should be considered automatic.  When buildings of some architectural merit are not available former shops can be converted into drinking establishments. These may be unsuitable for a ‘Café’ or Boozerama but provide adequate space for an Autolout. The distinction is to be considered one of licensing and operation rather than planning policy. Bouncers are mandatory at all times for Autolouts and after 6pm for Boozeramas, after 8pm for Café Bars and discretionary for Cafes. Similar licensing provisions apply to clubs for which consent may also be treated as automatic within areas designated a Café Quarter. (NOTE: The term ‘Working Mens Club’ is now proscribed over large parts of Wales under the Property Misdescriptions Act.)

As noted in TAN 99 there is little need for supplementary guidance on traditional public houses as these are fortunately falling into extinction.The guidance also notes that the pedestrianisation of café quarters is not essential as civilian traffic into such areas can be managed as necessary by using the necessary police vans and ambulances as temporary roadblocks.

I have quoted from TAN 99 but, since the publication of such guidance, the National Government has also addressed the issue of town centres. Their approach has perhaps been more innovative in introducing to town planning the proven success of the televised game show. The Welsh Government might adopt a similar approach and have towns compete for funds in an endless televised contest with the obligatory breathless commentary. All regional news and current affairs programmes in Wales are clearly well rehearsed in the appropriate style. Opportunities for spin off series and merchandising could keep the fun factory at Porth Teigr fully occupied and benefit the 'Creative Industries' we have heard so much about. Badly failing towns could, for example, compete in another series with a catchy title such as 'It's A Shithole' the prize being additional policing and other emergency services.

We wait, with breath only slightly bated, for effective action.

ENTERTAINMENT, EDUCATION and EXPERIMENT

On first reading, the Cardiff Council green paper Rebuilding Momentum appears to be littered with numerous contradictions, clichés and lazy assumptions. Section1 is entitled A New Economic Vision and appears to offer little that may be considered original or visionary. It opens, for example, with the claim that perceptions of the city have been transformed from ‘an industrial backwater’ to ‘a vibrant small European capital. However, one of the challenges listed later in the green paper, is that the city still suffers from a general poor perception, and that the traditional image of heavy industry and coal mining valleys still pervades the consciousness of many people outside Wales.

It would be interesting to see some evidence to support this. One might claim that the image outside Wales is one of flashy, trashy waterside development, litter, binge drinking and related casual violence. A quick search of ‘Cardiff’ on Youtube will quickly demonstrate negative imagery. The same word search on Google reveals an entirely positive aspect of the city whilst ‘Cardiff night’ in Google Image reverts to the negative. Clearly any external perception of the city will depend on the source of available information - but neither of those sources offer coal mining valleys by way of an initial impression. What is consistent is the presence of cultural and educational institutions on both sources.

Leisure and culture are associated with the beneficial transformation of perceptions of the city in Section 1 of the green paper. It is claimed that the ‘new cultural vibrancy has succeeded in attracting and retaining talent’ particularly in respect of higher education. These elements no doubt play a part and it would be interesting to see a definition of ‘culture’ and to what degree that attracts and retains post-graduate and international students. The dominant culture which has been supported by the City may be said to be populist and collective as exemplified by the mono-culture periodically imposed on the city centre by the Millennium Stadium. At risk of going over very old ground, the support for the Millennium Stadium over the proposed Cardiff Bay Opera House had a lasting impact on perceptions of Cardiff as a centre of ‘high culture’. The proximity of that and other new stadia and sporting arenas may well be an attraction to students. This may not be the case among those who control the flow of investment and development capital, who we must assume are a principal target for this document. For those, Cardiff may be considered a place of ‘low culture’. Opera may be performed at the Wales Millennium Centre but for many outside Wales the abiding associations of that building are with Torchwood not Tosca.

In claiming youthful vigour the city once again demonstrates its adolescence. As with aspects of commercial development in this green paper, which I will address elsewhere, the city has little by way of historical achievement in ‘high culture’. Those associated with the Welsh National Opera and other institutions will contest this but name a creative artist of international reputation born and bred in Cardiff? My point is made if the first name that came to mind was Shirley Bassey. Cardiff is principally in the entertainment business and culture, such as it is, remains a fringe activity. In the visual arts, that which is of truly international quality is a legacy of Victorian patronage in the form of an outstanding national art collection and a unique architectural set piece. These are supplemented by some excellent initiatives and facilities of purely regional reputation. It is only in sport and the performing arts can Cardiff claim any recent international distinction. The failure of the Centre for Visual Arts is now long forgotten in the afterglow of several Grand Slams and the windfall international exposure when the Millennium Stadium was temporarily the home of English Football. Cardiff, and for that matter Wales, is primarily associated with sport and popular entertainment. The ‘assets and attributes’ that the city has to build upon relate to these. No matter how many times the word ‘culture’ is used in this green paper it is to event led tourism and leisure activity that proposed investment in our ‘cultural infrastructure’ is being directed.

The point to be considered by the average citizen and ratepayer in the city is to what extent they will be the beneficiary of this? Presumably there is some economic development rationale given the context of the proposals for a bigger, better indoor arena, a conference centre and other mega projects. At this point in time I cannot see the linkage to the stated aspiration of the green paper for higher value jobs and higher wages. The principle beneficiaries of event led tourism appear to be the hotel and catering sector together with transport and security. Detailed studies will no doubt evidence that job numbers are impressive but the quality of such employment is, in the majority of cases, low. A bigger, better indoor arena will still be a privately owned and operated commercial venture as may a conference centre. These are not civic assets in any sense other than being perceived to be an essential part of the standard offer of a city. Page 14 of the green paper proclaims Towards a New Approach but there is no innovative or original thinking here. It is interesting to see that the third paragraph mentions both an International Conference Centre and that Cardiff Central station does not meet the aspirations of an international city. It is interesting that the latter was built by the Great Western Railway who were advertising Cardiff – The City of Conferences back in 1932

Perhaps it is an idea whose time has come? It might even be of some use to the Universities whose role appears to have been fully recognised by this green paper. I have made a point in my preceding blog about the remark in the foreword that ‘they need to be central to our ambitions in a way that they have not been in the past’. On reflection I may have read that incorrectly the first time and, in re-interpretation now take this to be a sincere mea culpa on the part of the author of the foreword. What is being admitted is that the City has previously excluded the Universities from its strategic thinking and that henceforth they will be central to it. My sincere apologies for misinterpreting the statement on first reading. The recognition of the Universities as equal partners in the strategic development of the city is to be welcomed. Their involvement may bring to the process what it currently appears to lack – innovation and originality.

 For example, a strategy based largely on accommodating private sector property development has neither quality. It is entirely predicated on a recovery of the property market. Furthermore, what appears to be required in the words of the green paper are ‘funds for speculative development and new business development’. As regards property development what we should be aspiring to is serious long term investment not short term 'hit and run' speculative property development. That needs to be coupled with aspiration for much higher quality of both the development and the public realm. Such aspirations are presently notable by their absence, particularly in relation to proposed new public spaces. The present hiatus in commercial property development should afford the opportunity for a serious re-think about future development, both its physical form and the funding and development partnerships. I am wary – if not weary – of proposals for ‘high density Scandinavian style living’ and would like to see some detail. Is the paper proposing architect designed cooperative low cost housing development or simply lots of apartments built close together and filled with stuff from IKEA?

               As to funding for business development it is here that the Universities may work with the city to innovate. As Jane Jacobs said back in 1961 “new ideas need old buildings”. God forbid that the temptation to repeat the recent disaster of ‘Techniums’ or other shiny edifices may be too much for both academics and local politicians to resist. Before new Grade 1 offices are built we could, for example, think about taking out the significant overhang of vacant offices by acquisition or head lease and making it available at low cost, easy in/ easy out terms for business start ups. The City Council would of course need to take a long hard look at its business rates policy in respect of business start ups for, in the current market, rates are higher than rentals in many cases. The intentions for the Coal Exchange and Mountstuart Square are perhaps among the most encouraging aspects of the green paper. I make a plea in passing that ‘Mountstuart Square’ has been a perfectly adequate address for a hundred years or so and there is no need for it to be re-branded as a ‘Creativity Quarter’.

This does however prompt a caution alluded to in foregoing comments on culture. Cardiff has little history or tradition of creative enterprise. Mountstuart Square perhaps epitomizes its former fortune as a place of the agent, middle man and bureaucrat. It saw a brief revival as a place where the ‘creative industries’ flourished but these have since dispersed. Or disappeared together with the financial subsidies of the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation. Much is made of the ‘creative industries’ in the green paper and indeed the Welsh Government has itself backed that particular strand of enterprise. To date the greatest evidence of creativity has been that of the ju-ju men of ‘regeneration’ in milking it for consultancy fees. What can be conceded is that the green paper is not confusing such enterprise with ‘culture’. Knocking out soap operas and cheap reality TV shows in Porth Teigr is an industrial process involving creativity. It is rarely innovative. That quality may come from working with the Universities in other media and the infrastructure for that needs to be in place. However, for ‘creative industries’ to flourish, and for culture to develop there has to be creativity. This is where attention then turns to the Universities, FE colleges and schools and the education system itself. Cardiff Council could test that by providing a few hundred thousand feet of low cost accommodation for business start ups and say “fill her up…….”

In conclusion I would suggest we revisit the concept of Cultural Capital as outlined by Pierre Bourdieu i.e. forms of knowledge, skills, education, and advantages that a person has, which give them a higher status in society. The principle may be applied in equal measure to a city which can earn and retain higher status.

 

 

Re-Open for Business?

One can broadly agree with what is being said in the foreword of Rebuilding Momentum, the green paper issued for consultation by Cardiff Council. One can also have reservations regarding the manner in which it is being said. This is a paper which is being written about business for business and perhaps purports to be no more or less than that. As such it signals the priorities in city governance for the future, which are for economic development. The consequent impact on city and regional planning are subordinate to those objectives. The first reservation is that this should, in itself, trigger a wider debate as to what we want this city to be and that this is unlikely to happen.

We may examine this proposition from the first paragraph. “The successes of the past are there for all to see, but it is now over a decade since the last major investment was secured and the city’s performance has dipped as a consequence. The foundations were laid, but not exploited. We need to rebuild momentum.”

Much may be made of this opening statement. We might, for instance, seek clarification of investment and performance which may be assumed to relate solely to commercial investment, employment and the local economy. In that decade we have seen significant investment in the infrastructure of higher education with the opening of new facilities by the University of Glamorgan at the Atrium and the Welsh College of Music and Drama. Cardiff University appears to have lost none of its momentum in the ongoing development of new facilities at Maindy, nor Cardiff Metropolitan at Llandaff. In culture the decade has seen the opening of the Wales Millennium Centre, refurbishment of the Sherman Theatre and Chapter Arts and a new Central Library. As regards more populist entertainment the new Cardiff City Stadium and athletics stadium were opened in that period. A new visitor centre was opened at Cardiff Castle. In terms of commercial business and employment the extension of the St Davids shopping centre and opening of John Lewis have had a significant impact.

What may be read into this opening paragraph is the assertion that few of the foregoing projects were initiated under the city administration between 2004 and 2012 but are a legacy from the previous Labour controlled council. That leadership is now back and Rebuilding Momentum is no more than a clear signal to investors and developers that things will be as they were prior to 2004. Development is the priority and consent and support for such development will be forthcoming from Cardiff Council. Investors and developers like clarity and certainty and the message here is unambiguous. We are people you can do business with. The well- meaning amateurs who were in charge for eight years have gone and we are re-open for business. That this message is directed at the private sector  is underlined in the closing sentence of the following paragraph and re-iterated in following paragraphs. The willingness to accommodate such interests is stated in the third paragraph.

Some thought needs to be given to the comment in the fourth paragraph that; Our universities also have an important role to play. They need to become central to our ambitions in the way that they haven’t been in the past. This may be a positive statement, an acceptance of the position asserted by Sir Brian Smith, the Vice Chancellor of Cardiff University in his dealings with the Labour administration at that time. That was that Cardiff University was by far the biggest game in town and the City Council needed to wake up to that fact. Smith was awarded a knighthood in 1999 in recognition of his efforts in building university links with industry and commerce assisting the Welsh Development Agency in opening up Chinese and Indian commercial markets for Wales. The Universities role would appear to have advanced the aspirations of this document and a robust affirmation of that fact may be forthcoming from that quarter. In that respect the author may need to be careful in what he wishes for in provoking any ‘town and gown’ conflict.

We may then turn to a few telling points in the fundamental principles set out in the foreword.

In the second of these is the need ‘to ensure big city projects’. Some of those are outlined in the main body of the paper and signal a return to the regime that supported the Millennium Stadium and the less successful  strategy of International Sports Villages, Mega casinos and the like. The stadium itself required a massive public subsidy, both overtly and covertly. The latter hardly evidence the success of fully embracing ‘the full potential of public private partnership which has served the city so well in the past’ referred to in the following paragraph. What that paragraph does clearly establish is that, in the view of the author of it,  ‘Cardiff must re-build a reputation as ‘open for business’. Therefore, by implication, it is suggested that an impression has been created among developers and investors that the city has been closed for business for a decade. As to whether this is a fact or merely a party political point needs to be examined.

The fourth point of principle concerns the role of Cardiff as the driver of the city-region and economy and raises a number of important issues. City regions are, in my view, a given - economically, socially and culturally. One key issue that we have consistently failed to address is one of governance. Hopeful someone in the Welsh Government will take issue with the statement in the green paper and open out this debate. It has been the view of the city that its role has not been ‘acknowledged and exploited’ by the regional government and that may very well be the case. Those who drafted the ineffectual Wales Spatial Plan in 2004 found it hard to even use the word ‘Cardiff’ and the recent working party on the city region avoided the issue of governance from the outset.

Such a debate will of course necessitate a frank discussion as to whether we have a surfeit of government and a paucity of sound governance in Wales. The current economic situation may precipitate acceptance of that rather than any political will to face up to the hard fact that we simply cannot afford the number of unitary authorities that we have presently. In the meantime we must, however, remember that there should be equal and balanced regard given to region in a city region. The adjoining counties are not there to simply accommodate low cost dormitory housing, waste disposal facilities or park and ride schemes for the city.

The closing paragraphs merely emphasise that this paper is about doing business. For many it is going to be difficult to separate the policy from the personality in considering the issues arising. The signatory to the foreword, Cllr Russell Goodway was, as leader of Cardiff Council until 2004, well regarded by the property and construction industry and some other business sectors. Rebuilding Momentum will be welcomed warmly as his personal manifesto in those quarters, as will be the return of ‘someone who gets things done’. Others may be more cautious and agree with the conclusions formed by Prof Kevin Morgan in in his paper Governing Cardiff: politics, power and personalities in Capital Cardiff 1975-2020. Among these reference is made to the conclusions of the Lyons Report of 2004 and the suggestion that ‘ Cardiff will have to attach the same political priority to public services as it hitherto bestowed on landmark projects and iconic buildings’. Given that the green paper was preceded by ‘consultation’ on the proposed closure of many public services and possible disposal of ‘unprofitable’ custodial assets of the city many would not be assured that this will be the case.

All the emphasis here is on assuring commercial investors and developers that Cardiff is very much back in business. The initial conclusion in reading the foreword of Rebuilding Momentum is that it may be dangerous to assume that the outcome of this paper will be a purely Platonic relationship between Cardiff Council and private sector business. The wider public may therefore need to pay attention to what may be the thin end of a large wedge for, as Plato himself said; “The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men”

Deja Bayview

Q Why is our evening paper called The Echo?

A. Because we’ve heard it all before

In tonight’s South Wales Echo is the revelation of a masterplan which will connect the city centre with its waterfront. Given that this was a primary objective of the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation (CBDC) which received £500m in grant aid from the Welsh Office and Assembly someone may perhaps need to revisit the Auditor General for Wales’ report of June 2001. "Securing the Future of Cardiff Bay"? Both Lloyd George Avenue and Callaghan Square, constructed by CBDC under a Private Sector Initiative scheme are identified as areas for development in the new masterplan. The Western Mail reported on 7 September 2011 the Welsh Government revelation that the full cost of the PFI scheme, including its 25 year payback period, would be £188.8 million.

The default setting of the present Welsh Government is, if course, that everything is someone else’s fault but it is understood that they may have become stakeholders in part of this proposed new development. That will be worth investigating further.

It is also interesting to note that the new proposals include a light rail transport system connecting the city centre and Bay. That was an integral part of the original proposal for the, then, Bute Avenue project proposed by CBDC and designed by MBM Architects of Barcelona fame but that element failed to secure funding. The ‘Great Wall of Butetown’ presented by the existing railway embankment thus remained to separate the indigenous residents from new development. Critiques of the much diluted outcomes may be found in several editions of the Royal Society of Architects in Wales journal ,Touchstone, and Capital Cardiff edited by John Punter and Alan Hooper published in 2006.

There is probably consensus that both Callaghan Square and Lloyd George Avenue are nowhere near as good as was originally intended they should be. The question we now face is whether they will be any better? Both these and the several other key areas identified in Cardiff Councils green paper Rebuilding Momentum must be the subject of close scrutiny and wide debate if we are to avoid a repetition of past mistakes. We must also avoid the assumption that such mistakes may be attributed to the long defunct Development Corporation.  Some of us clearly have longer memories than others and will recall the Atlantic Wharf development, a predecessor of the larger Cardiff Bay redevelopment. As I recall, credit for that was claimed by an individual now associated with its proposed redevelopment.  That may allay any suggestion that the almost explicit criticism of CBDCs developments in the green paper evidences some personal score settling on a grand scale

The green paper may of course be just another piece of wishful thinking on the part of the City Council, a bit of optimistic flag waving in the depths of a serious recession in the property market. I have so far successfully avoided the use of the dread word ‘regeneration’ but at first blush their green paper has some of the thumbprints – or all- pervading smell of bullshit- that marks it as the cliché ridden output of ‘regeneration experts’.  Instead of ‘continental style boulevards lined with restaurants and cafes’ we now have ‘significant public squares’ and ‘high density Scandinavian-style living’. Should we assume that the latter will happen if and when the current low density occupation of unoccupied apartments in Cardiff Bay has been absorbed by a much improved property market?

Within the proposals is another interesting suggestion which is to extend the pedestrianisation of St Mary Street to Callaghan Square. Students at the Welsh School of Architecture proposed this as an outcome of a design charrette held there to look at an alternative to the traffic hub that Bute/ Callaghan Square would inevitably become. Their solution was perhaps even more radical than that now proposed in treating Mill Lane (the Café Quarter, remember?) and what is now Callaghan Square as a whole - a large urban square with an elevated railway running across it and some buildings in it. Despite the dreadful Marriott Hotel building there were, then, a number of interesting buildings which had not yet been the subject of compulsory purchase and demolition or arson. It would have been an altogether more interesting place than the central business district now proposed.

Again, we have heard it all before but back then no-one was listening. Their ears were clogged up with the bullshit of ‘urban regeneration’ and we should not let that happen again. We need to make urbanism an electoral issue in Wales.

More will follow as these plans are revealed further………

 

The paper is open for a six week public consultation from Friday. Views can be submitted from Friday at www.cardiff.gov.uk/rebuildingmomentum