LJN Blog Posts

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• PRO

  Craig McGinty April 29, 2009 at 9:46am

  Writing as a lover of France, it seems that there is much more of a connection with the benefits that green spaces can bring.
  
  There are still very run down and depressing parts of French cities that need help, but the overall impression you get is that the local environment plays a key role in everyday life.
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  Sustainable Land Management April 29, 2009 at 12:15pm

  Absolutely; and the major difference in France and the rest of Europe is that there is a strong and listened to lobby from within the landscaping profession as well as the public. When I was shown around the Lille Metropole Espace Naturel, some of the landscapers themselves were present to describe the operations, (this would never happen in the UK). The various UK organisations supposedly representing the landscaping industry turn the phrase lacklustre into an artform. There has to be lobbying from within the industry to allow proper regeneration to occur. At present if a large project is in the offing, the landscapers themselves would not be consulted in the UK, by way of any organisation and yet this is vital to allow for costs to be met properly and the scheme to actually work. Frankly BALI, APL and indeed now it appears the LI also, should be ashamed of themselves; there have been so many wasted opportunities and the individuals and small businesses in the sector have lost a sense of general credibility allowing the current flood of builders to come into the industry as well as the ludicrous scenario as detailed on the forum where there threats being bandied about.
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  dgeorgea April 30, 2009 at 12:13am

  I had a real epiphany moment during a meeting with contractors, council officials and others.
  
  We had been persuaded to let the council do some of the external decorators, as it would be cheaper. I have been trying to get the cost so that we know how much we will be required to return to the council out of our allowances.
  
  The reply was they didn't know because there were still meetings like the one we were at going on. Decs were not even on the agenda.
  
  This is perhaps one reason why tenant management organisations are more efficient than councils. If we have £60,0000 for external decs we use that for external decs, money left over is ploughed back into the community. With the council they are factoring their share of the money all the way through.
  
  It has made me somewhat cynical with other projects the council is responsible for overseeing. But to get things done we have to dance to the tune the piper chooses.
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  Cornish Apple Trees May 3, 2009 at 9:48am

  check out 'orchards' there is a new campaign to promote orchards. good for my business and a great way of providing a rural landscape as regards above. public orchards are a must.
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  Gabino Carballo May 4, 2009 at 8:54am

  Hi all,
  
  Part of the blame for this situation lies with the "overmanagerialization" that Britain (as well as other countries) has suffered. Big budget cuts have been implemented across the board, ostensibly, to increase efficiency. In reality, operations on the ground and services have been cut, whilst money going to consultants, paper pushing managers and quangos has increased, possibly ten-fold, over the last two decades or so.
  
  Not surprisingly, these quangos and individuals make decissions that keep them in business (more paper pushing) whilst actual work, on the ground is procrastinated upon (it's too expensive, we can't afford it, we are told).
  
  As the Financial sector has shown, we need to go back to basics: hard honest work needs to be rewarded. Hot air and thick reams of paper filled with made-up words belong in the recycling bin.
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  Andrew Garner May 6, 2009 at 8:10pm

  Take a budget of £100,000 for a council project:
  £15,000 - Feasbility study
  £15,000 - Risk Assessment
  £25,000 - Consultation Fees
  £20,000 - Website and Publicity
  £15,000 - Survey and Liasion
  £9,450 - Expenses
  £50 - For the planting of the 10 square metre flowerbed
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  Gabino Carballo May 8, 2009 at 12:01pm

  Sounds familiar Andrew!
  
  This is a very good article that goes a long way to explain how we got ourselves in this mess:
  
  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090313.wcomint...
  
  It's US based, but it can be exported to most countries where managerial claptrap has been adopted as overriding philosophy.
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  Sustainable Land Management May 8, 2009 at 4:55pm

  It is deliberate government policy for many western countries - the idea is simple to provide as many tiers as possible thus creating large sectors of middle management which can boost up the economy. Personally it just reminds me of the 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' and the third spaceship, the one which was send off with all the 'useless' professions before the workers and the academics who of course never left the planet - great stuff, but sad that it is all so true.