This is written as a personal, rather than professional reflection.
It's been weird year. One where I personally “resigned” a job, and one where I very nearly touched rock bottom in terms of my aspirations and beliefs in ideas and people.
I began to feel I was part of a surreal monkey’s tea party where the apes had taken over the meal and where the banana skins were deemed more important that the fruit inside.
Not because the skins were things to be slipped on, albeit this may be true, rather the skin, or veneer, of the fruit was deemed more important than the content or substance. The fruit was left to rot, and the skins revered and piled up for show.
As for the table that the meal was set on.......... it was old, creaky, awkwardly put together, and so badly patched up with borrowed bits and pieces that it too had no substance. Yet it was trusted as a platform by most that were happy to trough on its surface.
Hence my resignation was as inevitable as it was contrived. I saw it then, and still do, as the culmination of a weak flanking manoeuvre by a strange yet stronger force. But it was not the rapid flanking of Panzers through the Ardennes Forest, or the original brilliance of Canadian military tactics on the World War One battlefield of Vimy Ridge. Rather it was a form of trench warfare, or fire-bombing might of World War Two's Bomber Harris on steroids. Thus it was a war I could never win, and a war I was doomed to lose, but the truth is that I did not die, I was re-born. I became more than I was, albeit I was for a while a lot less.
Such was my departure from Liverpool Vision
Throughout this campaign friends came and friends went; almost in equal measure. The arrivals created great joy and the departures caused great distress. I almost lost friends with myself too, and I struggled like I have never struggled before. Fate seems an enemy, hope seemed an enemy, and on top of this, the general news and well being of planet earth and its people seemed to have sunk to a new nadir of greed, avarice and social inequality. The media seemed to gloat in its reporting of war, pestilence, greed, and rank stupidity, in its usual self congratulatory way.
Time was an enemy, and still is. Not just for me, but for all of us "normalists" as we race into the future. But perhaps a bigger enemy that this, are those who think they can own the future, seek to strategise it, and thus ignore the present and the now?
I was going to class technology as an enemy too, as there is no doubt it can dominate you, but it is also an enabler as I discovered in the re-appearance, through social networking means, of friends from my past. The same technology also allowed me access to ideas, knowledge, information, networks, and commerce that I would not otherwise have. On the whole, technology is a positive thing, and without it I would not be writing this piece.
But having said this I now intend to close. I have not been well for a lot of the last month. Nothing serious; rather a connection of unconnected annoyances. The latest, and indeed current, illness is a chest infection which has kept me in bed for the last two days, and I am still very weak and groggy.
It seems apt to be ending the old year ill, as it’s a reflection on what has been a poor year for me. I think too that it is positive to start the New Year; afterall things can only get better!
Happy New Year
Thursday, 31 December 2009
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Baltic Elevator Party
I had a great time yesterday as a guest of Tim and Paul Speed who run Elevator Studios. They were hosting Elevators annual Christmas Party. The brothers bought an old warehouse building in The Baltic Triangle area of the city and have turned it into a creative hub. This follows the expansion of their long term business in Cheapside Liverpool.
I am pleased to say I had a small role in this process in so far that during my Liverpool Vision days Tim & Paul came to me with plans to buy another building in the London Road area of the city. Their plans were in the negotiation stage, but I advised them not to purchase this building and passed them to a colleague Barry McGorry, who was managing the Baltic Triangle Area for Liverpool Vision. This was area which had evolved around a creative agenda, mainly following a decision by the aFoundation to locate there, and to launch some of the earliest Liverpool Biennials there, and the more recent public sector support for the Novas Scarman Group and its Contemporary Urban Centre. The same CUC where Cecilia Matson and I exhibited our 2008 cans of Scouse Stew as part of the Independents Liverpool Biennial
It was Barry who did the real work around the Elevator project, but I like to think that I played a small modest part.
Yesterday there were some 200 people involved in the party. Most are tenants of Elevator. Two years ago the same Christmas party, which I also attended, was in the Rose and Crown pub in Cheapside. It attendees numbered some 30-40 people. That is some change of numbers in only twp years.
Elevator, excuse the pun, are on the way up
I am pleased to say I had a small role in this process in so far that during my Liverpool Vision days Tim & Paul came to me with plans to buy another building in the London Road area of the city. Their plans were in the negotiation stage, but I advised them not to purchase this building and passed them to a colleague Barry McGorry, who was managing the Baltic Triangle Area for Liverpool Vision. This was area which had evolved around a creative agenda, mainly following a decision by the aFoundation to locate there, and to launch some of the earliest Liverpool Biennials there, and the more recent public sector support for the Novas Scarman Group and its Contemporary Urban Centre. The same CUC where Cecilia Matson and I exhibited our 2008 cans of Scouse Stew as part of the Independents Liverpool Biennial
It was Barry who did the real work around the Elevator project, but I like to think that I played a small modest part.
Yesterday there were some 200 people involved in the party. Most are tenants of Elevator. Two years ago the same Christmas party, which I also attended, was in the Rose and Crown pub in Cheapside. It attendees numbered some 30-40 people. That is some change of numbers in only twp years.
Elevator, excuse the pun, are on the way up
Made in Liverpool
I set a company up this week as a drive for new ideas and social capital for Liverpool. I decided to call it Made in Liverpool because the ideas that it will hopefully come up with will be from, and of, the city and its rich and diverse culture. I will post more on this later
Birkenhead
In 2009 I became part of a bidding consortium that tendered to purchase Pacific Road Theatre, Taylor Street Tram Museum, and the Birkenhead Heritage Tramway in Birkenhead, Merseyside.
Our intentions were:
1. To create an environmental technology centre, based on new technology research and start up businesses
2. To establish a European Test Centre for trams
3. To respect and facilitate Wirral Councils stated objective of retaining cultural uses within Pacific Road
4. To empower the tram museum to run as an independent asset
5. To work collaboratively with the local authority and neigbouring owners in an attempt to study the feasibility of using surplus energy from the adjacent sewage works and ventilation shaft of the Mersey Tunnel
6. Using such energy, if possible, as a means to bring back to life some of the adjacent empty buildings, perhaps with the purpose of growing food.
At the time of the tender all three assets were in use, and the two buildings housed several tenants.
The tender process arose as result of a "Strategic Assets Review" undertaken by Wirral Borough Council in 2008. The purpose of the review was to address financial mismanagement issues within the borough. The key objective was that of reducing the boroughs liabilities to manage its historic building stock, by selling such buildings. Amongst the other assets selected for disposal were Birkenhead Town Hall, all of the Boroughs libraries, and many of its sports facilities and community halls.
The "BEST" consortium (Birkenhead Environmental Sustainable Technology) comprised an unincorporated group of businesses from inside and outside the Borough. It included the founders or representatives of the Burden Group (a £350 million turnover workers cooperative,) Sustraco Sustainable Transport Ltd, Stored Energy Technology Ltd, The Grunhaus Group, and Trampower Ltd.
Within the group were academics, intellectuals, and entrepreneurs with a range of personal experiences that included supporting the UK government on transport policy, and working with the UK Governments Peak Oil Depletion Group. The group also included a trustee and former chairman of the New Economics Foundation, the UK socio-economics think tank that encourages social justice and green economics. Amongst its recent reports are the New Green Deal document on climate change and economics, and Clone Town Britain.
BEST believed it had a strong bid, and given our broad experiences in urban regeneration, public transport, environmental technology, town planning, social enterprise, workers cooperatives, and commissioning the Green New Deal we saw our bid as a unique opportunity for the town of Birkenhead, the Wirral Peninsular, and beyond.
We thought our thinking would align with Wirral Councils stated commitment of supporting the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change. This was a declaration made by many UK local authorities as a pledge to reduce carbon emissions. Wirral claims to have been amongst the first to sign up. It also claims to have been the first local authority to sign up to the post "Age of Stupid" 10:10 climate campaign.
In these respects, BEST saw a perfect fit between its broad humanist aspirations and those of Wirral council's. The fit seemed to be socio-economic as well as environmental. The question, however, is whether the council mean what they say, or whether they are more interested in driving a "green-wash" machine, that lacks any meaningful substance.
The cash behind BEST was to be "inbound" from UK companies not previously associated with the region. Given this regions poor reputation as a business destination, this was quite an achievement, but as "closure" to this process, my colleague Professor Lesley received the following on Thursday 10 December:-
Good Morning Professor,
I have to advise you that at its meeting last night Cabinet resolved as follows:- "That Cabinet nominates Merseytravel as the preferred bidder and that the Director of Law, HR and Asset Management be authorised to negotiate and conclude any necessary legal documentation." However, this resolution is subject to the usual call in period of five days from the publication of the minute, so I am not in a position to give formal notice of the resolution until expiry of that period. Following expiry of the call in period I will write, with appropriate feedback.
Wirral Council.
I am not sure what, if anything, we will do about this correspondence, but the processes we have experienced in submitting our bid echo and resonate with the recent Charteris report into the way Wirral Council managed other local assets, namely an attempt to sell off all of its public libraries to developers. An action that turned out to be unlawful.
There is another issue for BEST in so far that prior to the formal opening of the expressions of interest part of the Pacific Road process, and before we had put anything to paper, our group was verbally advised by a council legal officer that the disposal of this portfolio Merseytravel "was a done deal". This of course was strenuously denied by all parties, and nor could we never prove if this statement was truth or gossip. Whatever the case, there is significant and substantiated evidence that Merseytravel had significant advantages with its bid over those bids made by other interested parties.
BEST was also told that Merseytravel had received guided tours of the portfolio assets by council officers, that it had been given access to stock taking and accounts that other groups never had. We also know from meeting all of the tenants in occupation of Pacific Road and Taylor Street Tram Museum , that none of them were visited or consulted by Merseytravel. This was despite letters sent to the tenants by the council advising that this was a requirement of all the bid process. Interestingly this same requirement was never sent to BEST. That said BEST met all of the tenants anyway, as a basic courtesy. So something is clearly not right?
I spent six years working for Liverpool Vision (a physical regeneration agency in Liverpool) and five years representing Liverpool Vision on the Merseyside Investment Team. This was an inward investment vehicle set up by the Mersey Partnership to consider economic and tourist investment opportunities in the Merseyside sub-region. Thus I know how poorly this region rates in terms of inward investment and socio-economic well being. I am also aware of the broad and complex issues that permeate Merseyside governance in general. But despite such personal knowledge and my allowances for it, this process with Wirral Council has deeply shocked me.
I can only conclude from these facts that Wirral's actions were based on a political process and a political strategy. Their decision did not seem based on opportunity and possibility. The manner in which one strategic authority was able to work closely with another strategic authority does not bode well for local democracy and transparency
It cannot be an economic decision as the process excluded Wirral Invest, the councils own business investment arm, whose former boss also sat on the Merseyside Investment Team and is known to me. Wirral Invest knew nothing of this process when I contacted them.
Nor can it be a democratic decision as we were denied the opportunity, which we requested on several occasions, to address the full council and/or cabinet. Given the £500m turnover behind BEST and the uniqueness of its composition and ideas I find this extraordinary.
In essence, this process and its opaque “on the hoof” methodology, are in tune with the Charteris Report into Wirral's publicly criticised libraries disposal programme under the same Strategic Asset Review. She talked about “Wirral’s complete lack of understanding of the needs of the very community it represents.” I would also add that Wirral is out of touch with democracy and its civic responsibilities.
It can also be argued that Wirral's interests in the green agenda are seemingly confined to signing other organisations documents and spinning these as a veneer, rather than undertaking any meaningful actions of its own when it had, in effect, a free opportunity to do something for itself and its borough.
I wonder if its signs such documents using green ink. Yo know what some people say about those who sign and write in green ink??
Pity Wirral. Pity its residents
Meanwhile a prominent local authority in the South East and others, are desperate for this idea to locate to their areas.
Our intentions were:
1. To create an environmental technology centre, based on new technology research and start up businesses
2. To establish a European Test Centre for trams
3. To respect and facilitate Wirral Councils stated objective of retaining cultural uses within Pacific Road
4. To empower the tram museum to run as an independent asset
5. To work collaboratively with the local authority and neigbouring owners in an attempt to study the feasibility of using surplus energy from the adjacent sewage works and ventilation shaft of the Mersey Tunnel
6. Using such energy, if possible, as a means to bring back to life some of the adjacent empty buildings, perhaps with the purpose of growing food.
At the time of the tender all three assets were in use, and the two buildings housed several tenants.
The tender process arose as result of a "Strategic Assets Review" undertaken by Wirral Borough Council in 2008. The purpose of the review was to address financial mismanagement issues within the borough. The key objective was that of reducing the boroughs liabilities to manage its historic building stock, by selling such buildings. Amongst the other assets selected for disposal were Birkenhead Town Hall, all of the Boroughs libraries, and many of its sports facilities and community halls.
The "BEST" consortium (Birkenhead Environmental Sustainable Technology) comprised an unincorporated group of businesses from inside and outside the Borough. It included the founders or representatives of the Burden Group (a £350 million turnover workers cooperative,) Sustraco Sustainable Transport Ltd, Stored Energy Technology Ltd, The Grunhaus Group, and Trampower Ltd.
Within the group were academics, intellectuals, and entrepreneurs with a range of personal experiences that included supporting the UK government on transport policy, and working with the UK Governments Peak Oil Depletion Group. The group also included a trustee and former chairman of the New Economics Foundation, the UK socio-economics think tank that encourages social justice and green economics. Amongst its recent reports are the New Green Deal document on climate change and economics, and Clone Town Britain.
BEST believed it had a strong bid, and given our broad experiences in urban regeneration, public transport, environmental technology, town planning, social enterprise, workers cooperatives, and commissioning the Green New Deal we saw our bid as a unique opportunity for the town of Birkenhead, the Wirral Peninsular, and beyond.
We thought our thinking would align with Wirral Councils stated commitment of supporting the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change. This was a declaration made by many UK local authorities as a pledge to reduce carbon emissions. Wirral claims to have been amongst the first to sign up. It also claims to have been the first local authority to sign up to the post "Age of Stupid" 10:10 climate campaign.
In these respects, BEST saw a perfect fit between its broad humanist aspirations and those of Wirral council's. The fit seemed to be socio-economic as well as environmental. The question, however, is whether the council mean what they say, or whether they are more interested in driving a "green-wash" machine, that lacks any meaningful substance.
The cash behind BEST was to be "inbound" from UK companies not previously associated with the region. Given this regions poor reputation as a business destination, this was quite an achievement, but as "closure" to this process, my colleague Professor Lesley received the following on Thursday 10 December:-
Good Morning Professor,
I have to advise you that at its meeting last night Cabinet resolved as follows:- "That Cabinet nominates Merseytravel as the preferred bidder and that the Director of Law, HR and Asset Management be authorised to negotiate and conclude any necessary legal documentation." However, this resolution is subject to the usual call in period of five days from the publication of the minute, so I am not in a position to give formal notice of the resolution until expiry of that period. Following expiry of the call in period I will write, with appropriate feedback.
Wirral Council.
I am not sure what, if anything, we will do about this correspondence, but the processes we have experienced in submitting our bid echo and resonate with the recent Charteris report into the way Wirral Council managed other local assets, namely an attempt to sell off all of its public libraries to developers. An action that turned out to be unlawful.
There is another issue for BEST in so far that prior to the formal opening of the expressions of interest part of the Pacific Road process, and before we had put anything to paper, our group was verbally advised by a council legal officer that the disposal of this portfolio Merseytravel "was a done deal". This of course was strenuously denied by all parties, and nor could we never prove if this statement was truth or gossip. Whatever the case, there is significant and substantiated evidence that Merseytravel had significant advantages with its bid over those bids made by other interested parties.
BEST was also told that Merseytravel had received guided tours of the portfolio assets by council officers, that it had been given access to stock taking and accounts that other groups never had. We also know from meeting all of the tenants in occupation of Pacific Road and Taylor Street Tram Museum , that none of them were visited or consulted by Merseytravel. This was despite letters sent to the tenants by the council advising that this was a requirement of all the bid process. Interestingly this same requirement was never sent to BEST. That said BEST met all of the tenants anyway, as a basic courtesy. So something is clearly not right?
I spent six years working for Liverpool Vision (a physical regeneration agency in Liverpool) and five years representing Liverpool Vision on the Merseyside Investment Team. This was an inward investment vehicle set up by the Mersey Partnership to consider economic and tourist investment opportunities in the Merseyside sub-region. Thus I know how poorly this region rates in terms of inward investment and socio-economic well being. I am also aware of the broad and complex issues that permeate Merseyside governance in general. But despite such personal knowledge and my allowances for it, this process with Wirral Council has deeply shocked me.
I can only conclude from these facts that Wirral's actions were based on a political process and a political strategy. Their decision did not seem based on opportunity and possibility. The manner in which one strategic authority was able to work closely with another strategic authority does not bode well for local democracy and transparency
It cannot be an economic decision as the process excluded Wirral Invest, the councils own business investment arm, whose former boss also sat on the Merseyside Investment Team and is known to me. Wirral Invest knew nothing of this process when I contacted them.
Nor can it be a democratic decision as we were denied the opportunity, which we requested on several occasions, to address the full council and/or cabinet. Given the £500m turnover behind BEST and the uniqueness of its composition and ideas I find this extraordinary.
In essence, this process and its opaque “on the hoof” methodology, are in tune with the Charteris Report into Wirral's publicly criticised libraries disposal programme under the same Strategic Asset Review. She talked about “Wirral’s complete lack of understanding of the needs of the very community it represents.” I would also add that Wirral is out of touch with democracy and its civic responsibilities.
It can also be argued that Wirral's interests in the green agenda are seemingly confined to signing other organisations documents and spinning these as a veneer, rather than undertaking any meaningful actions of its own when it had, in effect, a free opportunity to do something for itself and its borough.
I wonder if its signs such documents using green ink. Yo know what some people say about those who sign and write in green ink??
Pity Wirral. Pity its residents
Meanwhile a prominent local authority in the South East and others, are desperate for this idea to locate to their areas.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)