Supporting local businesses has been on the new Government’s agenda throughout the election campaign, so it would seem logical that any opportunity to put that philosophy into practice ought to be taken with alacrity.
Bordon has been selected as a suitable location for a new, groundbreaking eco-town, based on land that will be vacated by the MOD when the army base is closed down in 2014. The loss of the army to the local economy will be felt hard, and it seems that any proposals to develop the site would represent an ideal opportunity to get local businesses, including architectural practices, involved in shaping the future of the area.
East Hants District Council has announced that there will be an international architecture competition and has allocated £10.69m to get the process moving. A master plan is being drawn up by AECOM, an international multidisciplinary company that is also working on the Olympic Park in London.
Whilst it is understandable that the government/council want a prestigious company to work on the project, this doesn’t score highly on the ‘eco’ front. How much travelling from their London offices will be required for consultation work? How well do they know the area?
I appreciate that large architectural practices have huge resources at their disposal to work on schemes of this nature, but there remains a terrific opportunity for local practices to work under the umbrella of these companies - allowing some of the funding to remain within the local communities whilst enhancing the green credentials of the project by limiting the amount of travel required for the numerous consultations with the local communities. Small businesses often struggle to get recognition and are all too rarely given the opportunity to demonstrate that they are capable of delivering cost-effective schemes.
In these times of economic belt-tightening, value for money is even more relevant than before. Fees wouldn’t be entirely benefiting multi-national companies and their shareholders, but being put back into the local communities.
Designing an Eco-Town, which by its definition implies that its impact will be minimal on the environment, should start at the very outset of the process, which means using local companies with local expertise, which all too often get over looked. If local companies are given a chance to enhance the area through design or local knowledge, it gives the businesses a chance to grow, which in turn helps local businesses to support the community. In society as a whole, we are being overrun by large national/international companies that have no connection to the local areas other than making a large profit for their shareholders. Local businesses have a far greater vested interest in providing a good service as it reflects on them and how their business grows, where as large national companies sometimes struggle to understand this.
Such a big issue as creating a new town must not be taken lightly and should give the local community a thorough chance to create an environment that will benefit them, on all levels.
Submitted by David Synge, Banks Brown Associates.