Comments on: The urban morphology of Keswick http://www.williemiller.co.uk/the-urban-morphology-of-keswick.htm conceptual, strategic and development work in urban design, town making, city planning, urbanism and place-making Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:35:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: nick wright planning » Blog Archive » community capacity in Keswick http://www.williemiller.co.uk/the-urban-morphology-of-keswick.htm/comment-page-1#comment-68 nick wright planning » Blog Archive » community capacity in Keswick Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:08:29 +0000 http://www.williemiller.co.uk/the-urban-morphology-of-keswick.htm#comment-68 [...] Click here for an interesting article by Willie Miller Urban Design charting Keswick’s development over time. [...] [...] Click here for an interesting article by Willie Miller Urban Design charting Keswick’s development over time. [...]

]]> By: Willie Miller http://www.williemiller.co.uk/the-urban-morphology-of-keswick.htm/comment-page-1#comment-66 Willie Miller Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:34:18 +0000 http://www.williemiller.co.uk/the-urban-morphology-of-keswick.htm#comment-66 Thanks Vicky - good luck with your studies - hope this helps Thanks Vicky – good luck with your studies – hope this helps

]]> By: Vicky http://www.williemiller.co.uk/the-urban-morphology-of-keswick.htm/comment-page-1#comment-65 Vicky Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:03:32 +0000 http://www.williemiller.co.uk/the-urban-morphology-of-keswick.htm#comment-65 This is fantastic! I am doing my dissertation on the urban morphology of Keswick, finding this article was a great suprise...thankyou so much for posting it. As part of my project I also have to design a 'masterplan' and I also saw the need for locals to stay and more employment in other sectors, the masterplan is great too. Again, thanks alot for posting. This is fantastic! I am doing my dissertation on the urban morphology of Keswick, finding this article was a great suprise…thankyou so much for posting it. As part of my project I also have to design a ‘masterplan’ and I also saw the need for locals to stay and more employment in other sectors, the masterplan is great too. Again, thanks alot for posting.

]]> By: Willie Miller http://www.williemiller.co.uk/the-urban-morphology-of-keswick.htm/comment-page-1#comment-25 Willie Miller Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:20:43 +0000 http://www.williemiller.co.uk/the-urban-morphology-of-keswick.htm#comment-25 Thanks Nick - the masterplan is available at http://www.keswick.org/aparticle.asp?id=7 - it’s rather a heavy download at 8.9 MB Thanks Nick – the masterplan is available at http://www.keswick.org/aparticle.asp?id=7 – it’s rather a heavy download at 8.9 MB

]]> By: Nick Wright http://www.williemiller.co.uk/the-urban-morphology-of-keswick.htm/comment-page-1#comment-22 Nick Wright Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:09:10 +0000 http://www.williemiller.co.uk/the-urban-morphology-of-keswick.htm#comment-22 You’ve hit the nail on the head when you say that the current restrictive planning regime implies “that Keswick has already achieved some sort of ideal state”. Very perceptive. Your post highlights the irony - and risk - of the restrictive policies that have always epitomised mainstream British town and country planning - that the “conservation” aims of the restrictiveness are likely to result in the creation of yet more banal and undistinguished development, which is of course exactly what the restrictive policies are seeking to avoid. The more restrictive we are, the more developers and landowners will look for loopholes - and they will always find them, whether it be through decisions taken for political expediency or planning consents won by lawyers on technicalities. So what’s the alternative? Not a Thatcherite unplanned free-for-all: that would definitely result in a drop in design quality. Surely the answer must be to allow the town to flex and grow, and continue to move towards its ideal state, as the morphology maps show it has done for hundreds of years… so that it can accommodate the economic diversification and attract working families that are the aims of your masterplan. I haven’t seen the masterplan, but if it’s pulled off the trick of protecting Keswick’s special qualities whilst allowing flexibility for change, that will be a huge step forward from simply “restricting”. Then all that remains is the task of building consensus with the planning authorities on the new regime… who says that communities are the only ones who are resistant to change ? You’ve hit the nail on the head when you say that the current restrictive planning regime implies “that Keswick has already achieved some sort of ideal state”. Very perceptive.

Your post highlights the irony – and risk – of the restrictive policies that have always epitomised mainstream British town and country planning – that the “conservation” aims of the restrictiveness are likely to result in the creation of yet more banal and undistinguished development, which is of course exactly what the restrictive policies are seeking to avoid.

The more restrictive we are, the more developers and landowners will look for loopholes – and they will always find them, whether it be through decisions taken for political expediency or planning consents won by lawyers on technicalities.

So what’s the alternative? Not a Thatcherite unplanned free-for-all: that would definitely result in a drop in design quality. Surely the answer must be to allow the town to flex and grow, and continue to move towards its ideal state, as the morphology maps show it has done for hundreds of years… so that it can accommodate the economic diversification and attract working families that are the aims of your masterplan.

I haven’t seen the masterplan, but if it’s pulled off the trick of protecting Keswick’s special qualities whilst allowing flexibility for change, that will be a huge step forward from simply “restricting”. Then all that remains is the task of building consensus with the planning authorities on the new regime… who says that communities are the only ones who are resistant to change ?

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