Tag: Climate change

Things to hold on to after lockdown

I’m glad we’ve reached the end of April. It was relentless and stressful. It’s chipped away at my income and mental wellbeing as COVID-19 has wreaked havoc.

After seven weeks, the novelty of lockdown is long gone. With the daily death toll increasing by hundreds of people, knowing that we’ll have social distancing for a few months is sobering.

Walking in High Street in Wells is a brutal reminder of COVID-19’s impact on places, which stand empty and desolate. I’m not alone in feeling that lockdown can’t end soon enough.

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Why social value must be at the heart of our places

Promoting the ‘value’ of development has been a standard approach for major projects for many years.

Statistics about investment, jobs and training opportunities are often used to generate headlines and online buzz.

After supporting projects for more than 15 years, I’ve seen how this can influence opinions towards a project when presented well. When set out using technical terms like ‘Gross Value Added (GVA) per capita’, it misses the mark, however.

But I’m getting the sense that its impact is on the wane, in the face of rising scepticism and changing views around what ‘value’ means.

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