Tuesday 13 January 2015

Good Question 23 - My thoughts on the Walkie Talkie Park

It's quiz night Tuesday

Tonight's quiz is slightly different from previous quiz night questions. Below you will find 4 pictures and you need to work out what connects all the pictures. Good luck.  

I will post the answer tomorrow night and maybe a few thoughts on it as well. The comment approval is switched on, so answers wont show until tomorrow night.

The answer and my thoughts are.....

Firstly, well done to Chris Driver on twitter who go the right answer. And thank you to everyone else who had a go.

All the clues in the pictures connect to the nicknamed Walkie Talkie skyscraper's public garden in London. You can read all about the story behind this controversial park on the BBC News page here. I suppose some people will really like this park in the sky, but for me it is one of those terrible examples of people taking and not really giving back to nature. What is this park doing for our wildlife or to help people (and especially children) engage with out amazing native nature. Where are the birds, the butterflies, the mammals, the rain, the wind, the sounds, the space and the freedom of nature? For me, planning decisions like this are a wildlife crime.

Some other crazy examples of planning authorities decisions include the outdoor cycles pursuits centre in Derbyshire. You can read about that one here on Mark Avery's blog.  Read about the approval to build 5000 homes on nightingale habitat here.

But what to you all think of this park in the sky and what other bad planning examples do you have to share?






4 comments:

  1. The third image is throwing a spanner in my guess, I was thinking public/private ownership etc: public parks, airspace above tall buildings technically owned by residents/owners (only to a certain height) CB radios do they broadcast on airwaves owned/used for the public....way off I know

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  2. Answer from Chris Driver on Twitter " I think you're making a very valid point about the so-called public roof gardens in the WT tower...."

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  3. It's in my mind a perfect example how a garden/park is to someone who has never been outside and spent time surrounded by nature, it's a perfect symbol why people especially architects should reconnect with nature at the same time it's sadly a typical modern garden, all patio no grass.

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