Caspar Hewett

Dr. Caspar Hewett is a mathematician and engineer with over twelve years of research experience in academia and industry. He has taught and lectured a variety of subjects including mathematics, numerical methods, Darwinian theory, theories of human nature, philosophy of science and environmental issues.

He is the founder and chair of The Great Debate, a group based in the North-East of England who organise workshops, courses and public discussions on scientific and social issues.

Caspar is also a Crucible 2006 awardee, and is currently working for NESTA organising a follow up workshop to the Crucible 2006 programme on Science and Society in the 21st Century.

Website: www.thegreatdebate.org.uk

e-mail:

9.30 to 11.00 on Saturday 19 May 2007

Who is the town and the countryside for?

In this session, chaired by Caspar, Nicholas Schoon, Steve Belmont, Simon Fairlie, and James Heartfield will discuss who is meant to benefit from the control of land use and the containment of development, who is benefitting in reality, if different, and who might gain and lose through potential change to planning policy. Where does collective and individual interest meet the discussion about town and country?

Nicholas Schoon, Director of Communications, Campaign to Protect Rural England, and author of The Chosen City (2001) - Sprawl bad, planning good

Steve Belmont, member of the American Institute of Architects, president of the Great Cities Alliance, and author of Cities in Full: Recognizing and Realizing the Great Potential of Urban America (2002) - The social, environmental, and economic costs of urban land underutilization

Simon Fairlie, Director of Chapter 7, the planning arm of The Land Is Ours network, and co-editor of The Land - Ruralization: An alternative to sprawl

James Heartfield, Director of audacity, and author of Let's Build! - Why we need five million new homes in the next 10 years (2006) - Beyond Town and Country

Who is the town and the countryside for?

More to follow shortly...

What priorities do we want reflected in land use planning?

Has the notion of a distinct town and country become unsustainable?

Can planners reconcile government policies with where and how people actually want to live?

Is it justified to describe policies based on constraining building activity as "planning"?

Introduction

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