Memorandum by Tim Williams, CPR Regeneration
(CAB 11)
CPR Regeneration is Cornwall's URC. SWRDA, EP
and in the 20th century industrial restructuring led to the loss
of quality jobs and a degraded environment which the URC was brought
into being to address. Recognising the importance of the built
environment as a cornerstone of recovery in this area the URC
was the first in the country to appoint an urban design manager
in-house. To add to this, we established with CABE and SWRDA a
new post of Design Action Manager to implement a real programme
of events and initiatives in Devon and Cornwall. The appointment
works out of the URC office for half the week, raising the local
and Cornwall game in terms of the quality of architecture and
the built environment.
The URC will be working as a partner in a number
of these initiatives which complement our core role to raise the
quality of design and pursue excellence in regeneration projects.
Some examples of this include a series of masterclass seminars
on identified key issues such as highway design, community participation
techniques, contemporary design and local distinctiveness, the
"safer places' ODPM" initiative. A Work will also be
pursued to raise awareness and capacity among the Local Planning
Authority—councillors and officers, to improve decision
making, and to establish a local authority design champion among
elected members.
The programme aims to secure a legacy for our
area and so will invest time in developing opportunities for architecture
centre outreach, design review panels, and establishing our district
council, Kerrier. This Design Action programme identifies Kerrier
District Council as a primary host authority for delivery of initiatives
among a cluster of authorities in West Cornwall. CABE's presence
in the area has already had dividends through input into URC projects,
working with the local "Liveability" team and promoting
the "Creating: Excellence" Initiative in the South West.
This is a real programme with achievable and
effective objectives. It is resourced for two years providing
support for the URC in the most difficult early stage of our programme
when a huge step change is required in the region. Collectively
we are having a real impact on the culture and work practices
of the area and without CABE this would not be the case.
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