Berewood fantasy

So I believe the properties on the Berewood housing development are officially up for sale. Time to have a look at the rose tinted vision Bloor and the architects have about the Waterlooville area!

Here is an analysis of some points made in the marketing booklet for the new housing estate, published and distributed circa 22/06/2013. The development is part of the West of Waterlooville MDA.

Berewood Marketing Booklet (text samples)	Waterlooville Reality
Page 7: Berewood's Garden City will be somewhere our residents can enjoy a high quality and more sustainable way of life...	Garden City?? Since when has a housing estate ever been a garden city? The term garden city dates back to 1898, which amusingly reveals a lot about the true inspiration for Berewood. Instead of drawing inspiration from the real local architecture, mostly dating from 1930 onwards, inspiration has instead come from a Victorian 'movement', minus the coal chugging steam engines. Noble as the idea might be, building a 'garden city' on virgin agricultural land a few yards from a suburban sprawl isn't exactly what Ebenezer Howard had in mind. Indeed Berewood will never be self sufficient and will be a strange protusion on the side of Waterlooville. A quirk of council borders, because most of it will be outside of Waterlooville and Purbook council/political boundaries.
Page 10: Robert Adam has drawn inspiration from the architectural styles found in the surrounding villages; and says; " Each of the new homes will have their own identity and character, and local materials will be used where possible".	Not sure what properties Robert Adam actually looked at in the non-existent surrounding villages, but I don't think any of them were any where near Waterlooville. Unless 'inspiration' means looking through local history books with content predating 1920. Lets have a look at the real world... Purbrook: behind the sign, some lovely bungalows. Purbrook: post 1970s flats and some 1930s houses Waterlooville: a few hundred yards from the Berewood development, some typical flats, post 1970s Waterlooville: dual carriageways and plenty of suburban traffic: Waterlooville: 1970s social housing: Cowplain: the traditional architecture of Waterlooville and Cowplain, rows and rows of suburban bungalows. Miles and miles of post WWII bungalows, flats and detached houses.
Page 13: Nestled within beautiful countryside, just 8 miles from Portsmouth, Berewood boasts eco-friendly credentials, tranquil surroundings and a very special way of life, all within easy reach of London.	Normally when expressing distances between places, one uses the 'as the crow flies' or geodesic distance. eg. the direct distance. However in this case, the Bloor marketing people appear to have used Google or a car navigation unit and worked out the distance using the A3(M) and A27 as the route. Which is roughly an 8 mile journey, as long as you don't drive down to Southsea! The true distance from Portsmouth is about 4 miles 'as the crow flies'. Tranquil surroundings?? Well  I guess the fields on which Berewood is being built were once a bit tranquil, but I would hardly call the B21590 and Maurepaus Way tranquil! Waterlooville is a suburban post war sprawl, it has been for many decades. Easy reach of London?? It's 50+ miles away! You can't get there without burning a lot of carbon. Is that supposed to encourage environmentally friendly behaviour? There is no nearby train station within walking distance. You have a 30 minute bus ride to the station in Cosham and 45+ minute bus ride to Havant station. You could take a coach to London, but do you really want to do that everyday? One assumes of course that Bloor et al are not suggesting driving to London, creating more traffic, pollution and CO2 emissions. Some 25% of UK carbon emissions are due to road traffic. One minute Berewood is a 'Garden City', next it's a suburban satelite of London. The marketing appears to be confused (or maybe post-modern). Google map
Page 13: Ideally located close to the heart of Waterloovilles vibrant town centre. Berewood promises a great choice of local restaurants, independent shops and top performing schools.	I think anyone reading 'vibrant' in association with Waterlooville will laugh out loud. Read the many blog posts on this blog to see how 'vibrant' it is. If you like Macdonalds, Subway and Costas then you'll love the local restaurants. The only local restaurant of note that I can think of is the Shalimar. A great choice of independent shops? Here is a sample (minus the numerous big corporates):
Page 13: With picturesque villages of Purbrook, Blendworth, Cowplain, Lovedean, Clanfield, Catherington, Crookhorn, Deanmead, Hambledon, Horndean and Widley...	My advice is take a look at Google maps and streetview and judge for yourself. Can you see a picturesque village? Maybe Hambledon is still a village. Maybe even Clanfield. But Cowplain and Purbrook? Maybe Bloors author lives in Australia and has no internet connection?
Page 18: For a relaxed shopping trip, Waterlooville offers an excellent range of small independent stores.	This doesn't reflect reality. Anyone who has shopped in Waterlooville since the 1960s has seen nearly all independent shops close down, just like any other town centre. Long gone are (can't remember many of the names) the Baytree Bookshop, the art shop, Transatlantic Plastics, a number of independent shoe shops and an independent hardware shop (got any fork handles?). The fact is that most shops in Waterlooville are big corporates, including: Asda, Iceland, Waitrose, Brantano, Wickes, Wilkinson, Boots, WH Smith, Subway, Costa, Macdonalds, Carphone Warehouse and many others. That is why (along with internet retailing) we don't have many independent shops.

Berewood toy town takes shape

The Grainger/Bloor toy town is starting to take shape close to Waterlooville.

This alien project has been designed by  Architects in Winchester who base their designs on the fossil fuel burning past, the properties have fake chimneys and tiny windows.

The marketing hype states that the homes are inspired by small Hampshire towns.

What the marketing propaganda doesn't say is that in order to find one of these idealistic small Hampshire towns, you will have to take a trip in a time machine to visit Jane Austen in the 18th century.

Once upon a time Waterlooville looked like one of these towns from the past, that is until post war Britain needed to build thousands of houses in the area. The result is that the character of Waterlooville happens to be in the1950s, 1960s and later, not in the 18th century.

We do need to preserve buildings like Swiss Cottage, but we don't need fake historic buildings.

Swiss Cottage (1876)
more window real estate than
the 2013 Berewood homes

So Waterlooville has a toy/fantasy town being built on valuable farmland on the edges of the existing town and is disrespectful to the majority of the architecture in the area. When were Georgian buildings ever built using modern timber frame techniques?

But the fantasy nature of the buildings is just a part of the problem.

We need to reduce energy use and that means designing homes that capture as much energy from the environment as possible without the need for energy inputs from fossil fuels and grid connected renewable energy.

Yes we do need the grid and the large scale renewable energy projects to feed it. But low carbon life isn't about consumption for consumptions sake. The 'client' side of the system (homes and businesses) must be as efficient as possible, providing some energy from domestic renewable energy systems. The way forward is the use of elements of Passive solar design, a realist approach to property design that uses the natural energy around us to do as much of the work for us as possible.

It's time that the architectural and political ideology that is firmly rooted in the past, remains in the past, because the ageing pensioners that support it are not our future.


Some useful links:
http://www.selfbuild-central.co.uk/green-design-overview/saving-energy/energy-harvesting/passive-solar-design/
http://www.yougen.co.uk/blog-entry/2119/Heat+your+home+with+passive+solar+energy/
http://www.superhomes.org.uk/resources/passive-solar-design/
http://passivesolar.sustainablesources.com/
http://www.passivhaus.org.uk/
http://www.passivhaustrust.org.uk/

Grainger - Berewood development March 2013

Some panoramic views of the current work on the Grainger - West of Waterlooville MDA development (click on theimage to view the full size version):

The 'front' has been tidied up. Drainage is going to be an issue across the whole site, as can be seen from this front of house shot.

The back end of the devlopment is currently a very muddy building site. I guess the company is desperate to build the first show homes. There are new cycle and pedestrian paths/tracks that border the site.


The act of building on the site will of course have an impact on drainage. Roads and concrete have an impact on how effectively the land absorbs the water. The assumption is that the developers know what they are doing and have carefully followed genuine climate science advice about future flooding risks.

Road side drainage ditch. How long will these stay clear?

What plans does Winchester and Havant councils have to make sure all this drainage and flood mitigation infrastructure remain clear of rubbish, weeds and debris?

PO7&PO8 spam

The postman delivered the first copy of 'PO7&P08' today (as if I don't get enough paper spam already).
At least I think it was the postman, although I guess it could have been delivered by an unpaid 'intern'.

The problem with any publication that basically pretends to represent 'the community' and is funded by business is that it is in reality communicating a fantasy. Most people I know in the community talk about the weather, their family, whats on TV, why politicians are idiots or why life today is so crap. Hence it doesn't represent local community at all. Where is the critique if the only articles are press releases by businesses promoting a product or service?

'PO7&PO8' isn't a typical 'free' local publication (you do of course pay for it through dealings you have with the businesses that support it, hence in some way it is funded via a tax on the price you pay for a product or service), it was started by the deputy leader of Havant Borough Council, David Guest. So as well as being a propaganda outlet for various businesses, it is also linked to a specific political/economic ideology.

What is intrtiguing is that South Downs College is down as a 'Corporate Supporter' and on the front page of issue one it states 'It is the Corporate Support and the advertising that funds this project' which implies a publically funded body (South Downs College) gives money to a project that has political party connections.

The first issue also mentions Waterlooville Community Forum, which allegedly represents the community of Waterlooville. It replaces two community boards. So whats new about the WCF?
Well what isn't new is the people that are on the new forum, they include Waterlooville Business Assocaition, Residents Associations, church groups and local councillors. Basically the same groups that allegedly represented the community in the previous community boards. A bit of shuffling and then apparently everything is better! A few people in these forums claim they represent thousands of people, the question is do you know who they are or what they look like? Did you ever ask them to represent you?

In this first issue Grainger and Barrett have a chance to blow their own trumpets. Grainger take the opportunity to announce that their 2000 home development will be called 'Berewood'. Yep, in memory of millions of trees that were once the Forest of Bere, Grainger has decided to commemorate the fact that all that carbon is probably now in our atmsophere and that the new development will add more on top of that!

From the environmental point of view, it has nothing to recomend it. The publication doesn't appear to have any standards regarding types of business promoted. That in turn puts a massive question mark over Havant Borough Councils environmental and economic credentials.

Havant Borough Councils plans will probably increase allergies in the community

Trees felled in Waterlooville

Interesting research in Finland published in PNAS, shows that a lack of exposure to nature and biodiversity increases the number of allergies and chronic inflammatory diseases in the community.

Scientists studied groups of teenagers living in urban and rural environments and discovered the rural teenagers had more beneficial bacteria on their skin.

This basically translates to Havant Borough Councils 'open for business' plans resulting in higher health bills and other costs for future generations. The more our councillors vote through plans for businesses and homes, the more allergies and other illnesses we will see in the community.

We need our biodiversity and green spaces. It's interesting just how symbiotic we are with nature, we can't do without it

Environmental biodiversity, human microbiota, and allergy are interrelated by Ilkka Hanski et al
BBC article

The results of Havant Borough and Winchester City Councils decisions

 

Taylor Wimpeys Wellington Park development in Waterlooville continues with blocks of flats being built next to Southdown View. As this development progresses the buildings seem to have fewer and fewer features. These are bland white blocks with tiny windows at front and rear, and none along the sides. At first I thought they were offices (guess the still could be). But the access doors at ground level have pseudo victorian lamps by each door, not the sort of thing you would have on offices.

 

The old Waterlooville Wadham Stringer and latterly Caetano site has been demolished, with only huge piles of rubble remaining. The old Sprint Print building has also been demolished. I haven't checked the plans, but most people I have talked to think the Sainsburys petrol station is going top be built on the Sprint site, although I thought it had been moved to the recycling centre across the road. Yeah, Sainburys build petrol stations so you continue to pump CO2 from your car, and their own company CO2 figures look 'green'. Another CO2, export and green wash accounting measure. It's a nice little game such companies play, which is why CO2 emissions haven't come down in the UK and we are really fecked. The idea of consuming less and using less energy, just doesn't fit in with selling lots of crap everyday from a big retail store.

 

A view of the Sainbury site from the Waterlooville side. Note the already horrendous 'private' footpath and cycle path in the foreground. Havant Borough Council offloaded responsibility for this important path into Waterlooville years ago. It is still a nightmare for pedestrians and cyclists trying to reach the real Waterlooville town centre (you know, the one with buildings a 100 plus years old, the one the council is now determined to destroy, as they have destroyed in the past). This year we lose the Baytree Bookshop and others in the town centre. I'm guessing Sainburys will be selling books as well as food.

 

More devlopments in the Waterlooville retail park. A large unit being split into two smaller units. Downsizing!??

I haven't included in this post the start of work on the massive Grainger 2000 home development just behind the trees. The photo didn't come out to well, so that can wait for another time.

I also haven't shown the numerous trees that have been felled as a result of these developments.

Newlands redesign

The latest news about the Newlands development suggests that the homes will be designed to a pseudo neo-classic specification by an architect that has connections with the Prince of Wales. The Prince is famous for his Poundbury town. However it is extremely doubtful that the Newlands development will be anything like Poundbury. The Prince of Wales has done many good things and his views about agriculture are good, but he doesn't have a clue about architecture. Poundbury may have some context in Dorset, but it would be ridiculous to build anything like it next door to the existing buildings of Waterlooville.

One thing to consider is what will happen to the Georgian or Edwardian facade of the Newlands houses in the future, once they have exchanged hands a few times. These buildings will not be listed and will have the minimal protection from alterations like any other building in the borough. This basically means that the architects vision of nice neat homes will eventually be destroyed when people start building plastic porches at the front, stick a satellite dish on the roof and a plastic conservatory in the back garden.

Waterlooville is not an area that is now rich in Georgian, Victorian or Edwardian architecture. It was once, but that has all either been demolished or extensively re-adapted and extended for modern use.
Yes there are the remains of Victorian/Georgian homes and commercial buildings in Waterlooville town centre, but you have to look at the top floors of the shops to see the nature of the original buildings, at ground level they are modern shops.  The vast majority of homes were built between the 1930s and 1970s. That period is the 'traditional' architecture of the area.

So the real choices for architecture have to be of that period or something completely new, not some fantasy vision that dates back to the Napoleonic or Crimean wars.

There is of course an alternative, Newlands could become a theme park or a gated community like Celebration in the USA of which much amusement and many TV documentaries are made. Celebration has strict rules about what colours can be used on homes and the community has an unelected town manager. With such strict rules and corporate management, Newlands could be kept like the architect designed it to be.

What will Waterlooville get?

Most likely standard box houses with token features that suggest some historical context, the windows will probably be plastic framed and the sandstone cornices will probably be replaced with plastic or concrete equivalents.  Yes it will satisfy some today, but it will likely ruin Waterloovilles image for the next hundred years, just like Waterloovilles town centre was ruined in the 1950s and 1960s.
Maybe if the area hadn't been massively developed in 50s/60s into a suburbia and the old Victorian/Georgian village of Waterlooville still existed, then just maybe the Newlands redesign would work. The reality though is far from that ludicrous ideological vision.

What does Waterlooville need?

The area desperately needs property that is built for the context of climate change and environmental sustainability. To do this, modern understanding of low energy construction, natural convection and the use of natural solar heating/cooling have to be built into the design of a building, traditional design does not fulfil that criteria. Any environmentally sustainable property will probably look different to anything built in the past if this essential criteria is met.

In fact the Newlands properties may contribute to their own demise because current building standards are not stringent enough to sufficiently reduce carbon emissions.

Grainger head of sustainability wins compensation

It is well known that Grainger are responsible for the Newlands development of 2,000 homes, a part of the West of Waterlooville MDA. However it is less well known that Graingers head of sustainability had been sacked by the company for being green and doing his job! Tim Nicholson (the advisor) has recently won his battle with Grainger and was awarded a large sum of money by the courts. The exact amount is unclear, media reports vary from £50,000 to £750,000.

The first stage of his battle was to get the legal establishment to accept that being sacked for being green could actually be a court case. Having won that battle, he then had to prove his case.

This indicates that Grainger aren't as green as they would like people to think they are. It will be interesting to see how they market the West of Waterlooville MDA in the future.

The case also has implications for other employees who have green views and are discriminated against, in their jobs or work enviroment.

How the Grainger development looks today

I thought I would take some photos from the footpath through the proposed Grainger (West of Waterlooville MDA) site. Note the descriptions are based on my own interpretation of the Grainger plans and the location that the photo was taken:

This photo shows the view at the corner of the allotments. According to the latest proposal the allotments will remain, most of the land in the photo will be built on though. There will be buildings that run along the the hedge which defines the allotment border.


This image shows 'plant farm' which will remain, most of the space in the photo should remain 'green' space with no building. The hedgerows and trees should remain. There will be a lot of building behind the farm.


In this shot the foreground should remain green space, but looking back to the London road, all that space will be built on. The hedge in the left of the photo defines the allotment boundary. There will be buildings in front of the allotment.


This shot is looking towards Hambledon road and the industrial estate. There will be a lot of buildings in the distance, but the foreground should remain green space. To the right, there will also be some building (the allotment boundary).

Newlands development - consultation

Lots of stuff to write about! But the first post is about the ongoing saga of the West of Waterlooville MDA. As reported in a previous post, Grainger are extending their part of the MDA to include 1,000 more homes.

They are launching a web site on the same day that they are presenting the new plans at the Waterlooville Community Centre on the 13th November. At the moment the web site just has a splash screen, but on the 13th the site will become active and an online consultation form will be published.

It is important that Waterlooville folk participate in the consultation to get the best results. However it should be noted that this appears to be a commercial consultation carried out by Grainger for their own purposes and not a statutory one conducted by the council
Grainger - Newlands Hampshire Consultation web site

Grainger to be challenged in court

The company behind the biggest part of the West of Waterlooville MDA will be challenged in court over the sacking of its head of sustainability. Tim Nicholson has won a court battle that now allows him to challenge his dismissal. He claims that he was sacked for his views about anthropogenic climate change and the science behind it.

Hopefully the court case could reveal something about attitudes in the building industry. One wonders what exactly is confirmed in the mind of the Grainger corporate affairs spokesperson mentioned in the BBC article??

Winchester dumps another 1000 homes on Waterlooville

Grainger Plc is submitting its ideas to the public for 1000 homes in addition to the existing homes planned in the West of Waterlooville MDA. The plans will be on display at the Waterlooville Community Centre on 13th and 14th November. This isn't a planning application consultation, rather a preview of what Grainger are proposing. However opinions expressed by the public may influence Graingers eventual application, so it is important that people make their voices heard.

West of Waterlooville MDA - Portable town

Despite the 'Credit Crunch' and a down turn in the property market, Grainger continues with the devastation of Waterlooville green farm land and habitat.

Construction of a portable cabin site base is ruining the view we once had. Close by is the site entrance where vehicles going in and out of the site will hold up traffic in the Waterlooville area causing greater emissions than we already have. A few months ago the muddy mess in the foreground was green land

Trenches at Waterlooville

Initial survey work and the digging of test trenches has started on the Grainger part of the West of Waterlooville MDA. I'm not sure what the trenches are for, but it looks like they are checking the composition of the soil. The diggers and bulldozers moved in days ago, similar trenches were dug on a different section of land last year. I think crops were grown on the land last year. You can't actually see the trenches from London road, you have to climb up the embankment to get a good view of them. Like the George Wimpey development nearer Denmead, this housing/commercial development will permanently take this land out of agricultural use and/or remove it as a habitat for wild life. At the same time the weak environmental regulation of building in the UK will mean carbon emissions will also increase. Sadly when people move into their new Grainger and Wimpey homes, they won't care that the land their homes are built on was once green or what Waterlooville looked like before the homes were built.