Noel Farrer: ‘Big changes are about to take place’
11 October 2011
I predict a riot
Noel Farrer, an experienced landscape architect and specialist in public realm space, took to the stage after Andy Sturgeon and asked the audience if they thought there was a connection this summer between the riots and the environment that people live in.
He declared; “I want to talk about politics. Our urban landscapes aren’t funny. Public realm spaces are critical for how and where a society expresses itself. If you look at the places where these people came from (referring to the rioters) there is some explanation to the way they are. The Government needs to wake up and understand that we need to have serious investment in landscape and the maintenance of the space.
Noel explained that as a practise they always provided management and maintenance plans for large schemes, but said; “they’re absolutely not read, they’re sitting on dusty shelves. “
Noel showed a slide of graffiti saying; ‘people = shit’ painted in a concrete landscape. “If you create the types of environments that are low grade and driven by maintenance and target hardening, you’ll
end up with people being as philosophical as this; ‘I hate you I’m going to kick in your windows’.”
Social as sustainable
Noel explained “There are three pillars of sustainability – economic, environmental and social. Of the three, I’m interested in the ‘social’; in reconnecting people with space. Nature creates environments that communities can delight in and which in turn can help them to deal with social issues.
“If you create spaces that enable people to feel safe then you have an incredibly desirable place and a sustainable space, because people want to keep it desirable.
Taking the audience back to the Bronze Age, Noel pointed to vast investment in public realm spaces like Stonehenge ‘In the bronze age – it was the opposite to now – it didn’t happen in the closed space, it happened in the big public realm spaces. It all happens behind closed doors now in our private gardens. We understand the value of what it can bring – health well being, communing and well being –
all happens there beautifully, and yet we keep it to ourselves”.
Noel spoke about one of his projects: Abbey Orchard in London. “The only people who valued that landscape were the people who parked their cars there. We said ‘here is a place where you can get rid
of the cars – a space where people can use it’ in the public realm space one of our big enemies is the car. We had to get 70% of the people on the estate to agree with us – only 10% of people living there had cars. We went on to develop a scheme where the cars came out, the car park came up and we developed an environment that
connected people.
Interestingly it is the only scheme that I know of where this has happened.” Noel’s scheme at Abbey Orchard was developed around
the idea of bringing people who lived in the surrounding blocks
together. The path layouts were designed to connect people; paths were cut like lines across the landscape, tempting neighbours to meet each other as they crossed in their shared public space. At the heart of the design was the idea that in order to make things ‘sustainable’ from a maintenance point of view, you had to make things ‘social’; “ What we’re actually doing is helping people to develop knowledge of people’s neighbours, providing comfortable seats where people feel safe, providing leisure in the shape of a small ball court.”
Noel argued that if you provide a ‘social’ space then it will be sustainable from a maintenance point of view – those living there will want to keep it, and will fight to keep it. He said of Abbey Orchard; “It’s so much greener, birdsong has returned to the place and people can relax and go out and plant their pansies (Andy!). It won 2nd prize in the Westminster in Bloom Competition 2007, and the people who live there will protect it and fight tooth and nail for it to be maintained.”
“Strengthening people’s relationship with nature is really important, and we need to shout about it. People have a strong identifier with nature but only when they’ve got it. Once they get it, they’ll hang on to it. In the localism agenda this is a positive message – people and communities that value their landscapes over all can have a positive outcome”.
A question of value
Noel reasserted his call to the assembled audience to acquaint themselves with the legislational changes going on in the industry. “In 70 years we haven’t seen so many changes – get out there, read
the four key documents including the National Ecosystem Assessment”.
“I have 350 people in front of me here today who are passionate about landscape, how many of you have read the National Ecosystem Assessment or the White Paper consultation paper or the localism
bill? Big changes are about to take place – if we don’t shout about these changes, no one else will. It’s our call.’ (Links to these were circulated to delegates and are available via the Landscape Institute website.)
The National Ecosystem Assessment published their findings in June this year. The NEA analysed the value of the UK’s natural environment by taking account of the economic, health and social benefits we get from nature. The assessment is the first of its kind at a fully national level.
Noel Farrar argued though; “how do you value joy, wonder, well being – it’s priceless.’ He argued that to put a number on it (£30 billion) was at best it allows people to measure just how important
landscape is, but at worst it’s a dumbing‐down of nature to something purely objective ” and concluded “it’s an impossible calculation that can only lead to compromise”.
He finished with a rallying‐call; “Wherever you are promote landscape; it’s morally as plane as the nose on your face that landscape is a wonderful thing and something we should invest in”.
(Noel’s presentation is available via the Palmstead web site.)
Other Press Releases By This Company
- 25/10/2019 - Soft Landscape Workshop 2020
- 26/05/2016 - “What have plants ever done for us?”
- 08/10/2015 - Strictly Sustainable: A passionate call for localism and a stronger cohesive voice for horticulture
- 25/09/2015 - Strictly Sustainable: A passionate call for localism and a stronger cohesive voice for horticulture
- 13/08/2015 - Strictly Sustainable: The Ecologists Perspective
- 13/08/2015 - Strictly Sustainable: The Designer’s Perspective
- 13/08/2015 - Strictly Sustainable: The Client’s Perspective
- 12/02/2015 - BALI South Thames - 24th February - Building a SkyGarden
- 04/08/2014 - Design For Maintenance 2
- 16/05/2014 - 'A Summer of Masterclasses' - Start the summer with Palmstead...
- 05/11/2013 - Soft Landscape Workshop Report
- 23/09/2013 - Plantsman’s Plot – September 2013 – from Palmstead Nurseries
- 30/07/2013 - ‘Native Versus Non Native: Which is Best?’
- 08/10/2012 - What does it take to survive? Water? Light? Heat? A Good Finance Director? Answer: SUGAR!
- 31/07/2012 - Soft Landscape Workshop at Palmstead Nurseries
- 11/10/2011 - James Alexander Sinclair: ‘I don’t like letting go of my gardens; my ideal job goes on for ten years!’
- 11/10/2011 - Professor James Hitchmough: ‘applying an ecological perspective to aid long term maintenance’
- 11/10/2011 - ‘Maintenance is a profession which should be valued’
- 10/10/2011 - Design for Maintenance
