Putting the heart back into Thornbury

I happen to think that Thornbury needs a larger and more sustainable population if we are to support a thriving town centre and one day to benefit from many of the facilities enjoyed by larger communities. If the majority think otherwise then we must all live with the consequences of that decision.

However, I find it bizarre that the current debate centres almost exclusively on which green space should be preserved rather than on broader environmental considerations. Criteria should include ease of access to the High Street. How do we encourage folk in the new homes to walk rather than use their cars? Surely an environmentally responsible Thornbury should be discouraging folk from burning more fuel and increasing pressure on our already over-stretched parking? Surely a commercially viable Thornbury should discourage them from getting into their cars and heading off to The Mall where the parking is easier?

If we decide to build more homes let’s build them as close to the High Street as possible. Let’s put the heart back into Thornbury.

Rail 3. Greater Bristol Metro Campaign

Thanks to all those who joined Thornbury 2050 in lobbying for Thornbury to be included in the Greater Bristol Metro Campaign. It looks as if your efforts have ensured that Thornbury is at least on the map!

Government money to the tune of £100 million is about to be pledged to the first phase and it looks as if Thornbury is now in with a chance for later development. Read the breaking news and the full story in The Post

Wind power storm brewing

It brought some metaphorical sunshine into another soaking wet day when I read in the Thornbury Gazette that:

The Olveston Wind Farm Action Group (OWAG) is growing in strength under the leadership of new chairman Claire Barnard, and after receiving pledges of support from Olveston and Aust councillors as well as MEP Ashley Fox, it has now been endorsed by Pilning and Severn Beach Parish Council.

The more the merrier I say. Let's face up to the real challenge which is to build a substantial amount of new generating capacity with the least overall damage to the environment by concentating the visual detriment in very few locations. Trouble is the nimbies will just switch their destructive attention to the next scheme. Most of them will have lived out their natural span by the time that the real crunch comes and electricity will have become a luxury enjoyed by the few who can afford it! Will future generations remember nimbies with affection or hatred for the havoc that they wreak?

PS I'm hoping the weather will improve soon so that I can turn my attention to more healthy activities than sitting at the keyboard.

Size 2: What's viable for a town of Thornbury's size?

How many supermarkets, high street names and small independent traders could be financially viable in Thornbury? So many businesses are falling into administration that one wonders how long it will be before the majority of our town centre shops are either empty or occupied by building societies, banks, estate agents and charity shops.
How many commercial and light industrial enterprises could we service with premises and staff? Once again not a thriving sector with at least one large office block lying empty.
How much potential do we have as a dormitory town?
Answers to questions such as these would help to define the flow of income into the town and that in turn would enable a judgement on the type and scale of facilities that we could afford.
A simple example of the balance that must be struck is provided by ACT's promotion of Thornbury's very own 500 seat theatre. We already have the Armstrong Hall which is capable of seating over 300 and is used by Thornbury Arts Festival for a week each year to stage professional events which are by and large well supported. We also have several other smaller venues which are regularly used by amateur groups and for 'one off' events. But is Thornbury disadvantaged compared with other rural towns of comparable size?
A trawl through rural theatres in Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire and a few further afield shows that most towns of Thornbury's size don't even have a venue comparable to the Armstrong Hall. Those that do have a theatre are presented in the attached plot:

Let's focus on the those towns with a very similar population to Thornbury, i.e. around 15,000. The most significan outliers are the Pavilion at Whitby and Theatr Brycheinog at Brecon (both selected by the study for ACT) and Monmouth's Savoy and Blake theatres (amongst the others I've trawled). It doesn't take much thought to work out that these benefit from circumstances that are unavailable to Thornbury. So it looks as if Thornbury is already blessed with quite a large auditorium for a town of its size.
Of course size isn't everything. Undeniably the facilities at the Armstrong Hall need updating and fund raising is well under way to improve backstage. Whether we need or can afford the running costs for a state of the art 500 seat theatre is a matter for debate - one based on a sound business case, a realistic assessment of financial viability and hopefully no need for a subsidy by Thornbury folk.

The Chinese are coming

It could have surprised no one when RWE Npower and E.On announced their withdrawal from Horizon Nuclear Power - how could the Germans have faced down opposition to their plans when the German Government had withdrawn from nuclear at home. More to the point the Germans just don't have the money to invest in us - it's all going to prop up the economies of Greece, Spain and the other southern states of the Eurozone. Germany might change its mind on its own membership of the Eurozone but that probably would make sufficient funds available to invest in nuclear outside Germany.

For those of us who are supportive of nuclear as an environmentally and, in the longer-term, commercially sound means of generating power it seemed that we would be doomed to a future of nimbies squabbling over wind turbines, incinerators, barrages ... none of which on their own stand any chance of meeting our energy needs.

So it is fascinating to read in The Gazette today that

The Areva group and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC) group announced this week they would bid for the Horizon project in Shepperdine, as well as its other site at Wylfa on Anglesey in North Wales.

A large scale investment by the Chinese makes incredible sense - they are amongst the few nations in the world who have capital and we need it if we are to rescue our dwindling sources of electricity.

Or should we go big time for power stations fuelled by gas? There is definitely oil shale beneath Thornbury. Whether or not it holds significant quantities of gas to be commercially viable remains to be proved. The only certainty is that the nimbies will be out in force, ears to the ground listening for rumbles and noses to the tap sniffing for gas!