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| CABE calls for common vision for the Thames Gateway In a keynote speech at the Thames Gateway Forum, John Sorrell, the chairman of CABE, outlined CABE's determination to see successful development take place in the Thames Gateway. Sorrell rejects the idea of the Thames Gateway as a 'nowhere place' or a blank slate, highlighting the existing places of character within the Gateway and the features - its great rivers, their surrounding landscapes, its ancient routes and settlements and other man-made features - which give it a 'DNA' of its own. New development must build on this and benefit existing communities, and warns that the Gateway should not be seen merely as a place to solve the problems of other parts of London and the South East. Sorrell welcomes the vision behind Terry Farrell's proposal for a national park in the Thames Gateway and agrees that landscape should be central to development there. But he rejects the idea of creating a formal national park. Instead, Sorrell argues for development to be based on the German model of a 'Landschaft Park' - a landscape you can live in. This vision builds on the existing 'Greening the Gateway' initiative.This work, headed by ODPM & DEFRA, involves the Countryside Agency, CABE Space, the Environment Agency and English Nature and envisages a multifunctional network of parks and green spaces across the entire Gateway. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Construction News :: home page |