while my story starts
I was destined to
Oh level at that point in time
is critical to get French said he could
get into University
my parents were determined that I should
pass the route map for that was to send
me on a French exchange I arrived in
Leon
at age 15 and was picked up by Pierre
that was his name and his father and
driven to their home in Mecca and within
the first day my first cultural
experience was to be taken to a field
just outside McCall where a new station
had been built where the TGV the new
French high-speed rail line had just
been newly constructed Pierre’s father
had an extraordinary interest in this
trade line slightly amusing and
encouraged me to listen to the line the
line sang when the train approached a
cootie litter he said to me somewhat
excitedly and you can probably tell that
I only just passed French au level what
was extraordinary about that and in
reflecting upon that was that pS father
had an extrordinary pride in what had
just arrived on his doorstep it had put
his town on the map but it had also
given him a great sense of pride he was
part of something national as well as
local if I was to ask you the question
and it may well indeed affect you as
it’s affected me if somebody was to tell
you that a new rail Lane line was going
to arrive within 500 metres of your town
or village one would you be happy to
would you take of guests within 24 hours
of arriving at your home to stand at the
station and wonder how marvelous it was
I fancy the answer is probably no
however the question is why do we feel
like that I think culturally we are
fearful of change and change leads to a
number of fears and more often than that
that can be related to a fear of the
unknown and a fear of lack of
information so
position that the UK now faces is that
there are many projects coming forward
we are now at a period of time in our
history perhaps the first time since the
Victorian area era and certainly
probably since cold war since war
post-war reconstruction where there is
massive change in development and in
infrastructure planning so a lot of
development of this type is emerging and
becoming part of our society and culture
I honestly believe that part of the
issue connected with people’s fear is
the way that these projects are
communicated and the lack of story or
narrative behind the reasons why I think
also people fear these projects because
of the lack of engagement with them and
the lack of understanding of them and I
certainly don’t think there is much
pride welling up in people’s hearts when
they think about these projects and I
think that’s a shame some people say
that we get the history we deserve I
think the position probably is more that
the future generations will get the
history that we determine right now and
we have a responsibility as members of
society within government and as
consultants of my type to make sure that
legacy and that inheritance is a good
one these projects last certainly much
longer than a political cycle of five
years they tend to last in the hundreds
of years and as a result this I think
should change the way we think about
things and the value we place on them
more often than not these projects are
really scrutinized under one single
theme which relates to economic
efficiency operational efficiency but as
a society is that enough and if we were
to project 500 years ahead and ask those
generations to look back is that really
going to be enough to mark us in this
period of history as being sufficient
infrastructure has many different scales
I think probably for most of us when we
talk about it it’s the mega project a
large national project that somehow
spans a number of regions is centralized
through government but infrastructure
also deals with a small scale and the
light in the everyday is a really
important part of making these projects
a contribution to life rather than a
diss benefit to life going back to my
own childhood the village I grew up in
in Surrey started as a small rural
community with a very strong estate
behind it but with the coming of the
rail line this little dot on the map
grew to become possibly what I would
call some form of a Acadian delight I’m
certainly a lovely place to grow up
facilitated by this wonderful rail line
that extended up to Waterloo it also had
a wonderful waiting station a waiting
room where my now wife and I spent many
happy hours waiting to catch the train
to school it even had an open fire that
was stoked by the Polish lady who go to
the station every morning in the winter
it was there ready so these elements of
delights the importance of the
granularity of the approach we take in
design is a very important part of
making these projects significant and
material to the quality of our life I
want to run through three examples which
are perhaps contrasting we certainly can
learn from history we can learn history
but we can also learn from history the
first project I want to talk about very
briefly is a project that Joseph
Bazalgette undertook at the embankment
this project really demonstrates the
issues connected with making investment
work hard for a little bit more spent
you get an awful lot more for your money
battle Jets brief was to solve the
cholera problem for London there was an
operational imperative but rather than
just find a route for the pie
he established the embankment the
embankment is something for those who
live in London that we probably hold
dear as a fantastic piece of civic
public realm it didn’t only just find a
route for the foul route for sewage from
London
when basil jet designed it he also
designed it to take the underground
train routes into London he doubled the
size of the pipes because he had a
forecast that London was going to grow
so one in the same time he both answered
the operational need but at the same
time created three other possible
benefits in addition the way we think
about infrastructure right now tends to
be single-minded every project for
itself there is a singularity of intent
and the way the economics is constructed
around these projects the opportunity
for collaboration and for the creation
of mutual benefit is very very difficult
to secure in complete contrast to the
embankment and bringing us slightly more
up-to-date this is old oak old oak is
planned as London’s next major new
development area it will be taller
denser and bigger than Canary Wharf
why do I raise this I raise this because
this area of London is probably one of
the most challenged in terms of the
history of infrastructure planning David
did say I would be able to reach the
screen but I can’t but what I will tell
you and just guide you hopefully you can
see here the wiggly line running through
which is the Grand Union canal and a
series of railway lines that crisscross
the scene here this large area coming in
here is the cross rail on construction
terminal and very soon hs2 as it funders
down from Birmingham will come in with a
new station here to reach here and reach
North Acton the challenge is massive
that area will have to be decked over to
cross over the cross rail Depot
and there will be a series of islands
connected by bridges as a result of the
nature of the engineering the history
that’s been inherited at old oak the
change that North action that has gone
through historically is ultimately the
separation of what is commonly known as
the Scrubs common to the south this
extraordinary open space and natural
habitat and Acton to the north this
isn’t really something we want to repeat
and it does require collaboration and
forward thinking to avoid future
challenges such as this bringing some
right up to date I now take you to Wales
this project is the Swansea tidal lagoon
that David mentioned very briefly this
project from my perspective has a very
clear narrative it has a very clear
vision and it’s going to do a lot more
than merely generate electricity by
letting the water flood through massive
turbines as the tie goes out and comes
in yes it does that but it does several
other things as well it will protect
Swansea from tidal surges it allows for
free movement of traffic in the city
prompting further regeneration it
provides increased natural resource in
terms of beaches and saltwater marshes
and the word mitigation doesn’t really
apply here the project has been
developed as one single answer working
through a series of collaborative
endeavours to answer a series of
problems so this project in many ways
strikes the balance in my view of
bringing forward operationally efficient
infrastructure but at one at the same
time connecting with local people this
project probably from my perspective is
characterized by something I would like
to call enlightened self-interest the
concept that by doing good to others you
will also benefit if infrastructure
projects as they move forward can be
more self enlightened and take this
approach than I think we’ll be in a much
better place so what do we learn
from this project this project takes us
to a point where I believe there is a
positive legacy to be left the client in
this particular instance is entirely
driven by creating positive legacy but
the position that this project now sits
in is that at the moment government is
not willing to sanction the movement of
this project moving forward
it has planning permission it’s been
through an independent review by Charles
Henry appointed by the government but at
the moment the government can’t see or
doesn’t seem to have the mechanics to be
able to make a judgement on a project
that not only produces electricity the
single-minded object but actually a
project that starts to deliver more than
that so we have a problem with the way
that these projects are examined what we
seem to be unable to do is place value
on place community and amenity and these
are very important values that need to
be added to the simplicity of economics
and going back to my earlier point as a
generation in the future looks back
should all our projects be merely
operationally and economically efficient
surely there must be something else so I
leave you with one final thought as a
number of the guests have today and it’s
clearly part of the tutoring we have had
my question is we all will leave a mark
in history somewhere like it or not that
can be as globally as on society a
culture at a mega scale but it might be
right down to the small scale to a
family to a community to an individual
child my question is for all of us is
what is our individual legacy and how do
we leave that legacy in a positive place
now and feel that we’ve been able to
contribute to either society or or
family so I leave it there and I have 33
seconds left and I think we’re done
thank you very much indeed
[Applause]
I was destined to
Oh level at that point in time
is critical to get French said he could
get into University
my parents were determined that I should
pass the route map for that was to send
me on a French exchange I arrived in
Leon
at age 15 and was picked up by Pierre
that was his name and his father and
driven to their home in Mecca and within
the first day my first cultural
experience was to be taken to a field
just outside McCall where a new station
had been built where the TGV the new
French high-speed rail line had just
been newly constructed Pierre’s father
had an extraordinary interest in this
trade line slightly amusing and
encouraged me to listen to the line the
line sang when the train approached a
cootie litter he said to me somewhat
excitedly and you can probably tell that
I only just passed French au level what
was extraordinary about that and in
reflecting upon that was that pS father
had an extrordinary pride in what had
just arrived on his doorstep it had put
his town on the map but it had also
given him a great sense of pride he was
part of something national as well as
local if I was to ask you the question
and it may well indeed affect you as
it’s affected me if somebody was to tell
you that a new rail Lane line was going
to arrive within 500 metres of your town
or village one would you be happy to
would you take of guests within 24 hours
of arriving at your home to stand at the
station and wonder how marvelous it was
I fancy the answer is probably no
however the question is why do we feel
like that I think culturally we are
fearful of change and change leads to a
number of fears and more often than that
that can be related to a fear of the
unknown and a fear of lack of
information so
position that the UK now faces is that
there are many projects coming forward
we are now at a period of time in our
history perhaps the first time since the
Victorian area era and certainly
probably since cold war since war
post-war reconstruction where there is
massive change in development and in
infrastructure planning so a lot of
development of this type is emerging and
becoming part of our society and culture
I honestly believe that part of the
issue connected with people’s fear is
the way that these projects are
communicated and the lack of story or
narrative behind the reasons why I think
also people fear these projects because
of the lack of engagement with them and
the lack of understanding of them and I
certainly don’t think there is much
pride welling up in people’s hearts when
they think about these projects and I
think that’s a shame some people say
that we get the history we deserve I
think the position probably is more that
the future generations will get the
history that we determine right now and
we have a responsibility as members of
society within government and as
consultants of my type to make sure that
legacy and that inheritance is a good
one these projects last certainly much
longer than a political cycle of five
years they tend to last in the hundreds
of years and as a result this I think
should change the way we think about
things and the value we place on them
more often than not these projects are
really scrutinized under one single
theme which relates to economic
efficiency operational efficiency but as
a society is that enough and if we were
to project 500 years ahead and ask those
generations to look back is that really
going to be enough to mark us in this
period of history as being sufficient
infrastructure has many different scales
I think probably for most of us when we
talk about it it’s the mega project a
large national project that somehow
spans a number of regions is centralized
through government but infrastructure
also deals with a small scale and the
light in the everyday is a really
important part of making these projects
a contribution to life rather than a
diss benefit to life going back to my
own childhood the village I grew up in
in Surrey started as a small rural
community with a very strong estate
behind it but with the coming of the
rail line this little dot on the map
grew to become possibly what I would
call some form of a Acadian delight I’m
certainly a lovely place to grow up
facilitated by this wonderful rail line
that extended up to Waterloo it also had
a wonderful waiting station a waiting
room where my now wife and I spent many
happy hours waiting to catch the train
to school it even had an open fire that
was stoked by the Polish lady who go to
the station every morning in the winter
it was there ready so these elements of
delights the importance of the
granularity of the approach we take in
design is a very important part of
making these projects significant and
material to the quality of our life I
want to run through three examples which
are perhaps contrasting we certainly can
learn from history we can learn history
but we can also learn from history the
first project I want to talk about very
briefly is a project that Joseph
Bazalgette undertook at the embankment
this project really demonstrates the
issues connected with making investment
work hard for a little bit more spent
you get an awful lot more for your money
battle Jets brief was to solve the
cholera problem for London there was an
operational imperative but rather than
just find a route for the pie
he established the embankment the
embankment is something for those who
live in London that we probably hold
dear as a fantastic piece of civic
public realm it didn’t only just find a
route for the foul route for sewage from
London
when basil jet designed it he also
designed it to take the underground
train routes into London he doubled the
size of the pipes because he had a
forecast that London was going to grow
so one in the same time he both answered
the operational need but at the same
time created three other possible
benefits in addition the way we think
about infrastructure right now tends to
be single-minded every project for
itself there is a singularity of intent
and the way the economics is constructed
around these projects the opportunity
for collaboration and for the creation
of mutual benefit is very very difficult
to secure in complete contrast to the
embankment and bringing us slightly more
up-to-date this is old oak old oak is
planned as London’s next major new
development area it will be taller
denser and bigger than Canary Wharf
why do I raise this I raise this because
this area of London is probably one of
the most challenged in terms of the
history of infrastructure planning David
did say I would be able to reach the
screen but I can’t but what I will tell
you and just guide you hopefully you can
see here the wiggly line running through
which is the Grand Union canal and a
series of railway lines that crisscross
the scene here this large area coming in
here is the cross rail on construction
terminal and very soon hs2 as it funders
down from Birmingham will come in with a
new station here to reach here and reach
North Acton the challenge is massive
that area will have to be decked over to
cross over the cross rail Depot
and there will be a series of islands
connected by bridges as a result of the
nature of the engineering the history
that’s been inherited at old oak the
change that North action that has gone
through historically is ultimately the
separation of what is commonly known as
the Scrubs common to the south this
extraordinary open space and natural
habitat and Acton to the north this
isn’t really something we want to repeat
and it does require collaboration and
forward thinking to avoid future
challenges such as this bringing some
right up to date I now take you to Wales
this project is the Swansea tidal lagoon
that David mentioned very briefly this
project from my perspective has a very
clear narrative it has a very clear
vision and it’s going to do a lot more
than merely generate electricity by
letting the water flood through massive
turbines as the tie goes out and comes
in yes it does that but it does several
other things as well it will protect
Swansea from tidal surges it allows for
free movement of traffic in the city
prompting further regeneration it
provides increased natural resource in
terms of beaches and saltwater marshes
and the word mitigation doesn’t really
apply here the project has been
developed as one single answer working
through a series of collaborative
endeavours to answer a series of
problems so this project in many ways
strikes the balance in my view of
bringing forward operationally efficient
infrastructure but at one at the same
time connecting with local people this
project probably from my perspective is
characterized by something I would like
to call enlightened self-interest the
concept that by doing good to others you
will also benefit if infrastructure
projects as they move forward can be
more self enlightened and take this
approach than I think we’ll be in a much
better place so what do we learn
from this project this project takes us
to a point where I believe there is a
positive legacy to be left the client in
this particular instance is entirely
driven by creating positive legacy but
the position that this project now sits
in is that at the moment government is
not willing to sanction the movement of
this project moving forward
it has planning permission it’s been
through an independent review by Charles
Henry appointed by the government but at
the moment the government can’t see or
doesn’t seem to have the mechanics to be
able to make a judgement on a project
that not only produces electricity the
single-minded object but actually a
project that starts to deliver more than
that so we have a problem with the way
that these projects are examined what we
seem to be unable to do is place value
on place community and amenity and these
are very important values that need to
be added to the simplicity of economics
and going back to my earlier point as a
generation in the future looks back
should all our projects be merely
operationally and economically efficient
surely there must be something else so I
leave you with one final thought as a
number of the guests have today and it’s
clearly part of the tutoring we have had
my question is we all will leave a mark
in history somewhere like it or not that
can be as globally as on society a
culture at a mega scale but it might be
right down to the small scale to a
family to a community to an individual
child my question is for all of us is
what is our individual legacy and how do
we leave that legacy in a positive place
now and feel that we’ve been able to
contribute to either society or or
family so I leave it there and I have 33
seconds left and I think we’re done
thank you very much indeed
[Applause]
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