Winter 2005
Welcome - Bishop Laurie
Green
2.
How are our people affected?
3.
What is the Government's
aim?
4.
Areas of growth in the Chelmsford
Diocese
5.
East London
6.
South Essex
7.
Stansted & the M11 Corridor
9.
Some issues from East
London
11. Church & Faith issues to tackle
Where do we go next? Some Resources
b. Bible Study
c. Contacts & other information
Here in the Chelmsford Diocese, what has become known as
'regeneration' is all around us. Anyone will be struck
by the building projects that are either underway or at the planning stage here
in East London and
All this is very exciting but it also raises a host of
questions of deep concern to Christians. How will one small part of the
In 2004, Bishop John Gladwin asked me to oversee concerns
for Regeneration and Development across the Diocese, so I invited a team to
join me in steering our programme. Among other things we scheduled a very
successful Conference for the Diocese in March 2005 when clergy and laity
gathered and shared a wealth of expertise and experience of regeneration
projects, and discussed the issues they raise. That has given rise to this
booklet. Thanks are especially due to Steve Williams and Crispin White for
their help - you will find their contact details in this booklet. Do read it,
share it with others, and let our team know the outcome. Enjoy the read!
+Laurie Green, Bishop of Bradwell
This report reviews what is happening in
our communities in Essex and
It contains
·
a summary of the issues
raised at the Diocesan Conference on Community Regeneration & Development -
5th March 2005
·
updates on what's
happened since then
·
questions for the
church about regeneration
·
questions for our
society about the way it lives
This booklet begins as our conference
did, by looking at the global picture in order to understand what's happening
locally. It then reports on what's happening around our Diocese before setting
out some issues that we must address together - theological and practical
issues which demand response.
·
We live in a global
world where production can be switched between continents at the click of a
button to save costs.
·
In general, production is
moving to the places where labour is cheapest. Therefore the factories of the
expensive West lie empty and derelict.
·
High cost centres can
only survive if they offer efficiency and quality skills. Therefore the West is
concentrating increasingly on the service and financial sectors.
·
The Global system is
based on markets and money. Money flows between financial centres instantly,
largely controlled from the West.
·
Most capital is in the
hands of multi-national companies, so governments have less say in what
happens. That's why governments create trade alliances and international
institutions - to have some effect on international capital.
·
Cities across the world
are growing at a phenomenal rate and populations are moving all the time.
·
There are vast building
programmes in many cities as population chases the jobs and the wealth.
·
In pursuit of high returns,
developers create a 'regeneration culture', refurbishing the old and building
new areas - some wonderful, some just more urban sprawl.
·
People are continually
on the move.
·
Our jobs are less
secure - we are all caught up in globalisation. So we may be forced to change
jobs more than we would like and move home to do so. Families become more
scattered and support in times of trouble can therefore become more difficult.
·
Traditional patterns of
family life are declining as the pressures build (fewer marriages and fewer
children living with both natural parents).
·
New houses are being
built to suit the new patterns - some in existing areas where there are already
churches, some in totally new locations.
·
People may spend little
time in the locations where they live - a mobile society - a 'pick & mix'
society - and we buzz around to pick the activities we want, wherever they are,
when we want them and how we want them.
·
Church may become one
of the 'pick & mix' options. We go where we want and when we want, but we
may not attend near where we live and our attendance may be erratic, with
little local commitment.
·
Some are working longer
hours. Others work more flexible patterns to accommodate childcare responsibilities.
Employment is increasing, especially among women. People spend so much of the
time at work that our industrial
·
Big questions of faith
are raised by all these changes.
In 2003, as a result of much research
and earlier reports the Government published
'Sustainable communities: building for the future'
The document says that a 'sustainable
community' will include:
Flourishing local economy;
safe and healthy environment;
designed to support amenities;
quality private and public transport infrastructure;
good well-designed and useful buildings;
a mix of homes and tenures;
quality public services - education, health, etc.;
vibrant local culture;
a sense of place;
links with wider society.
But the document also proposed a massive
building programme for the South East - that's here where we live.
We worry that what Professor Klunzmann has said might prove true: "regeneration
begins with poetry but ends with real estate".
·
Thames Gateway
o
o
Royal Docks (11,000
jobs, 10,300 dwellings)
o
Barking Reach / London
Riverside (4,200 jobs, 21,600 dwellings)
·
Thames Gateway
o
o
o
Southend / Rochford (16,000 jobs, 10,600
dwellings)
·
Stansted / M11 (31,300 jobs, 27,000 dwellings)
·
·
Rest of Essex (9,600
jobs, 44,100 dwellings - mainly in Colchester,
The target figures keep changing but
those quoted here are from London Regional Plan for the period 2005-08 and the
East of England Regional Plan for the period from 2001-2021 for new builds.
The
·
·
The Royal Docks and
·
London Riverside (Barking)
where a residential development with some limited employment opportunities will
take place. The size of that development depends on the extension of the
Docklands Light Railway to serve the area without which there can be no
question of achieving the target levels of domestic occupation. Employment will
largely be sustained elsewhere, making transport essential.
·
Other key regeneration
projects within the London Thames Gateway area will be in central Barking, and Rainham and there
will be significant developments on the fringes of the Gateway area in centres
like Ilford and Romford, largely at the edict of the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister for increased housing density and also in Walthamstow, Leyton and
Leytonstone.
The vital understanding which has to be
grasped about regeneration in
·
It is starting now! It
is part of the largest regeneration project in
·
It is happening in an
area of substantial historic deprivation.
·
It is being undertaken
in one of the most significantly multicultural and multifaith
communities in
·
In that context it is
exciting, dramatic and very challenging to faith communities.
The Essex part of the Thames Gateway contains
three centres of development - Thurrock,
·
Regeneration of each
town centre
·
Development of new
business opportunities mainly logistics, high value industries, research and
leisure
·
Education - Improve schooling
as the population is below average in terms of qualifications. Specialist
education to satisfy specific business needs such as logistics (docks, distribution,
etc.) and expansion at university level (especially the new University/College
in Southend)
·
Housing to satisfy the
needs of the new workers being drawn in and to overcome problems of
affordability, especially in relation to key workers
·
The government has just
given conditional approval for the development of a major new container port to
be built on the Thames in
·
Developers are seeking
planning permission to build a town of 14,000 dwellings on Green Belt land in
·
Major development of
the airport at Stansted with the addition of a new
runway. There are now 21.4 million passenger movements a year and rising. In
2005 they will apply for permission to grow above 25 million - single runway
maximum capacity would be 35 million - and a public enquiry about a second
runway is expected in 2007/8. Currently 10,000 work there
and this is expected to grow to 16,000 in only five years!
·
·
All along the M11 we
may well see new towns grow up from
·
A major upgrade to the
A120 has also increased accessibility in an east/west direction.
·
·
·
The Haven Gateway (which covers
parts of
·
As with much new
development, there is a feeling that insufficient attention is paid to local
views, that the necessary infrastructure, if provided, comes too late and there
is a mistrust of officials and developers because of perceived broken promises.
·
Many people in
·
The many cultures,
traditions and faiths of
·
In all the development proposals
transport is key to success. Without the necessary
transport links from Docklands Light Railway, the proposed new transit system, new
railway lines and connections, the proposals are unachievable.
·
There are many other
concerns to be addressed like the burying of high level power cables, flood
control, employment protection, education and training opportunities ... and so
on.
·
For some residents the
proposals for vastly increased amounts of housing are a threat because we do
not seem to have the wherewithal to cope with the challenges that will bring.
Others see a vision of what regeneration might mean in terms of new and real
opportunity for all who live in the area.
·
As the regeneration
begins so real opportunities will arise for those whose eyes have been opened
to the prospects and who are well placed to benefit. Such opportunities will
exist for those who already live in
·
The churches have a
significant role to play, along with other faith communities, in securing these
opportunities for the development of the wider community. In doing that they
should put themselves alongside those decision-makers who are deeply committed
to ensuring that their labours result in appropriate sustainability.
·
And then ...
of course there are The Olympics! This is, so to speak, 'the icing on the cake'. It
will guarantee the success of the regeneration project if every issue is
addressed with its long term effects in mind. This will require commitment and
diligence on the part of all. We have our part to play.
·
Will the necessary
transport infrastructures (roads, rail, sea and air) be put in place?
·
What will be the effect
of the developments on the environment? (Will we have enough water in our taps
and not too much so as to cause flooding?)
·
How will our rural
areas be affected? (Affordable housing for locals, shops, schools, etc.)
·
What is the right
amount of new housing and where should it be put? (Note that the difference
between the lowest proposals and the highest is 16%.)
·
What should be the
right mix of totally private housing as against affordable and diverse housing developments?
·
Who is going to pay for
all the infrastructure and the cleaning up of
contaminated sites?
·
What exactly are these
"Sustainable Communities" that we are supposed to be building? What
makes a "Sustainable Community" and is that what we are getting?
·
Compact density creates
the critical mass necessary to provide the amenities for community sustenance. But
people prefer to live in lower density projects, which end up as urban sprawl
with no shops, doctors or other services.
·
How can the church help
to ensure that the voice of the poor and disadvantaged is heard?
·
We are asked to be a
partner with other players but in the past the Church of England has eagerly been
a partner only to find we have been left holding the baby when others pull out
- with church centres too grand and expensive for us to operate on our own.
·
When we encounter so
much 'one size fits all' development of cloned high-streets and cul-du-sac suburbs, how can individual and local identity
be safeguarded? Should we rely on shops to sell us an identity? Under God we
are worth more than that.
·
We are building houses
to cater for singletons, one- parent families and rootless workers. Can this be
right?
·
People move to soulless
suburbs and get 'new town blues' because of debt, commuting and insecurity. Our
answer is to appeal for better mental health care rather than tackle the
causes. This cannot be right. We believe people come before profit.
·
What happens to those
abandoned or displaced by the new build? Some older areas are divided off from their new neighbours by substantial new
walls or 'fire- breaks' to guard the new property prices. Made in the image of
the Holy Trinity, human beings are mutual, social beings - we belong together!
·
Some of our new build
is under dangerous electricity pylons and on toxic land. Our flood-plains and
wild life are under threat. What price God's creation?
Concerning the Church generally
·
Can we develop a
'theology of regeneration' that speaks to the world and is true to the gospel?
·
How can we best be
involved with Local & Central Government to enable the church's voice to be
heard?
·
How can we provide
worship facilities in major new developments, where there are no convenient
existing buildings?
·
What sort of facilities
should we seek? Dedicated buildings, multi-use church buildings, worship in
secular buildings?
·
What forms of church
are suitable in our culture?
·
We mustn't forget our
existing communities, including the rural.
·
We have a Diocesan
Environmental Policy. How do we apply it to ourselves and to areas of
regeneration?
·
How can the church
share good practice in these matters?
·
How do we work
effectively with other denominations and other faiths?
Concerning
our communities and local congregations
·
How can we, Christians
at the local level, get involved in what is going on?
·
What are the ways we
can be involved in our communities in addition to providing worship?
·
No one size fits all
but we need to learn from the experience of others in similar situations.
·
What are the priorities
for the local churches and what do we give up to achieve
them?
We hope that, if you've read this far,
you will have felt concerned to tackle the issues that the Regeneration of the South
East raises. More copies of this booklet are available from b.bradwell@chelmsford.anglican.org 01375 673806 (Bishop Laurie's office) and from the Revd
Steve Williams stevcgs@ukonline.co.uk 01277 811223 Why not get your friends interested, draw a
group together to discuss the issues and plan action and let us know how you're
getting on? All across the Diocese groups are forming.
For example, a deanery or town group
could:
·
Find out about the
developments planned for your area. Visit the local Council and ask to see
plans. The East of England Regional Spacial Strategy
(to be found at www.eera.gov.uk) gives overall figures of housing and job plans by Local
Authority area.
·
Ask how these plans are
likely to effect your church?
·
Are there plans for
major new housing or industry?
·
Are there other changes
- road and services infrastructure, etc. planned? If not why not?
·
What opportunities are
there for Christians to get involved and contribute? Who else is concerned and active?
·
What processes might we
engage in within our locality?
·
What are the resource
implications of what we want do?
The number of houses that we should be
building is not a simple matter to resolve. The factors involved include:
the number of houses needed to replace those becoming
uninhabitable
the drift to the south. In these days of international mobility
of labour does any government have power to control were people live? They need to be where the jobs are.
the increasing number of single person households (we are
living longer, marrying later, separating more) requires single or two-bedroom
properties. But we are building mainly larger houses! (One in three houses built
in the South East are 4 bedroom or bigger because they are more profitable for
the developers.)
The ending of council house building has
left a vacuum which has not been filled by Registered Social Landlords (RSL)
building for low income households.
Is a sacrosanct Green Belt the best way in
environmental terms? Because people like houses with gardens and there is
limited space for this Inside a city, building then
takes place outside the Green Belt. But then people have to commute across it
to reach their work! Would a wider Green Belt but with more building allowed
within it be better environmentally and serve a better life-style? Yes or no?
Similarly is it always best to build on brownfield sites (those previously used, e.g. old
industrial sites) before we turn to green sites? Old industrial sites may not
be large enough to support the necessary schools, shops, health and community
centres. So they become soulless dormitories and encourage increased car use in
order to reach distant services. Could a better approach be to 'green' some brownfield sites and create a viable community on 'green'
areas?
Here are two example studies. Each adopts a different way of
allowing the Bible to speak to our 'Regeneration' situation. Try both
approaches in your group and gain fresh insights from each.
BIBLE STUDY ONE: Working from the situation to the Bible
·
Ask your Bible study
group to list the issues they see as major challenges of regeneration locally
(or further afield).
·
Working as a group,
against each issue on your list indicate any biblical passages which come to
mind which have similar concerns or dynamics.
·
Discuss together what
light those biblical passages throw upon your issues. List them.
·
What does this new
insight prompt you to do or to think?
Some people find the second activity
above rather difficult. After using the group knowledge and information
therefore you might take along a Biblical Concordance and look up your key
issue words with the group, A concordance lists all the
biblical words alphabetically and then directs you to chapter and verse.
Other clues:
i.
remember that Jesus was a carpenter and builder during the Roman and
Herodian period so he saw lots of 'regeneration'
first hand.
ii.
In the Old Testament
the book of Nehemiah is a story all about regeneration.
iii.
You may not live in the
city, but remember that, by today's standards, the Bible uses the word 'city'
to refer to quite small towns and large villages, so those passages may apply
to you.
You will be helped in all this by
reading books and journals that make these connections. An obvious choice for
our Diocese is, Urban Ministry and the
BIBLE STUDY TWO: Working from the Bible to the situation
As an example of this method, let's take
two well-known passages and see what each prompts us to think and do about
regeneration.
First, a more negative
reading.
The
·
Read the passage aloud
and note the central events and turning points
of the narrative. Notice that the Bible is often
concerned with migrations of people. Notice how the technology allows
particular choices. Note their fear and their intention. Note how they build
and to what end. What does God do?
·
Now go through the
story and look for some deeper understanding of it. You might ask questions like: why does it talk about
language? What has language got to do with building structures? Why does God
judge them? What might they have done? So what was God trying to save them
from?
·
Acknowledging that this
ancient story comes to us from a very different context, nevertheless, what does it say to our situation? Are there any connections with our present 'regeneration'
expansion? Does this story point to any dangers? List them - and allow the
Spirit to take your imagination on from the story to list other dangers too.
Second, we look at a positive reading.
The New Jerusalem: Revelation 21: 2-4. 22-27
·
Again, start by reading
these verses aloud noting the main points (there are more details elsewhere, but for now stay with
these key verses) Notice that the city is seen as a gift from God. Note what is
implied about the function of the city. What is new / different about this city?
What is its relationship to those outside it? What must people be like who live in it?
·
Now look for some meanings. What does this passage say are the marks of a good city
(or town or community)? At its best, what can a city be?
·
In our own
situation, what does all this say we must concentrate
on when it comes to 'regeneration'?
Finally, compare the negatives and the
positives from these two studies (you may of course have found positives in the
first, and vice versa) and ask. What insights does all this hold for our experience
of Regeneration today? And therefore how should we think and what should we do?
In all this, don't forget to pray
through the issues and your insights - and why not bring all that to your
Sunday worship?
This report has been produced by the Diocesan
Regeneration Group under the leadership of Bishop
Laurie Green - Bishop of Bradwell. The website www.lauriegreen.org
[updated, ed.] offers more resources.
It is hoped that this booklet will encourage
further consideration of these issues. For further advice or support please
contact -
·
The Rev'd Steve
Williams (Thames Gateway Officer - Bradwell Area) - 01277
811223 and stevcgs@ukonline.co.uk
Do keep in touch with us and let us know
what you have done and the thinking you have generated. If you write reports or
comments please let us have them digitally, if possible, and be sure to tell us
where they originate and if you mind us publishing them. Many thanks.