March 11 2005

Two important CABE positions will soon be filled. The closing dates have just passed for the positions of Tees Valley Design Initiative programme manager, who will “inject design excellence into the continued regeneration of the area”, and the Liverpool Design Initiative programme manager, to be based at the Tea Factory.

Work has begun on Aedas’s new £6.6million healthcare facility in Chester. The extension to the Countess of Chester Hospital will provide renal dialysis, cardiology services and a variety of outpatient facilities. The new facilities, being funded by the hospital trust, will be housed around a south-facing garden.

A new report from CABE has shown that properties overlooking parks can command a premium of almost 20 per cent over similar properties. The report, Does money grow on trees? looks at how well-planned and managed parks, gardens and squares can have a positive impact on the value of nearby properties and can attract inward investment and people to an area.

Lord Richard Rogers has urged the government to rethink John Prescott’s plans to bulldoze up to 400,000 Victorian terraced houses across northern England under urban renewal schemes. “We recommended very strongly that you should first of all conserve existing buildings wherever possible, for they are part of our history and create a spirit of place,” said Rogers.

CABE’s Urban Design Summer School will run from the 26–29 June, at Accrington, in East Lancashire. It is suitable for developers, planners, architects, engineers, design champions and community leaders. For more information visit www.udss.org.uk.

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