Community Planning: Case studies: 013

intro
Arial view
Theme
Mining landscape regeneration
Location
Bodelva, near St. Austell, Cornwall, UK
Project leader:
The Eden Project


Imaginative and highly ambitious regeneration project which turned a redundant quarry into an immensely successful visitor attraction of national and international stature. Gaining the support of, and involving, local people throughout has been a key aspect of the project’s success.

intro

The Process

key to colour coding
Intense community planning activity
Events, workshops, meetings, open house events, exhibitions.
 
Moderate community planning activity
Surveys, consultation periods.
 
Low level community planning activity
Preparation, revising documents, survey analysis, design work
 
Key points in community planning process
Formation of organizations or partnerships, launch of initiatives, project completion.
 
Other relevant events and activities
Local election, local plan adoption, tendering.
 
Nothing much happening
Waiting, breathing spaces
 
1990 Dec Forerunner - Lost Gardens of Heligan
    Restoration of overgrown gardens at Heligan, Cornwall, begins.
1995 Vision
    Developed by a group of those involved with Heligan led by Tim Smit and Jonathan Ball. Aim to build the world’s biggest greenhouse to tell the story of the interdependency of plants and people. Believed that a landmark, iconic structure – recognizable around the world – would bring many people to Cornwall just to see it.

    Seed funding provided by the Restormel Borough Council (now defunct) 25k
1996 /1997
Mar
Building the vision
  • Engaging with the local media.
  • Presentations to interested parties around the county.
  • Targeting key opinion-formers and decision-makers.
  • Engaging with immediate neighbours.
  • Exploring collaboration with educational institutions.
  • Presentations to local groups
  • Being available to interested parties at all times
1998 Application for planning permission
    Building a new access road was key to planning permission. This took two years and caused more difference of opinion than the project itself.
1998 Oct Site acquisition
    Bodelva china clay quarry. An irregularly-shaped, 22 hectare hole of 30 – 70 metres depth.
1999 Dec Construction starts
    2000 May Visitor centre opens
      Public able to view construction creating a sense of public anticipation and ownership – especially among the locals.
    2001 Mar Eden fully open to public
      2001 /2011 Sep Ongoing engagement with the community
        Local community engagement reinforced by Eden's commitment to:
      • Local employment
      • Local sourcing and business support
      • Year-round opening, even though Cornwall primarily a summer tourist destination, the project has helped to extend the tourism season from February to November.
      • Preference given to Cornish schools when booking schools visitEngaging local schools in international programmes such as Gardens for Life, while providing support for teachers.
      • Entry deals for local people.
      • Opening in the winter evenings (provision of an ice rink, theatrical lighting in the landscape, music and drama, which has attracted an extra 120,000 people a year – mainly local – in the winter months)
      • Its Cornish cultural heritage, evidenced through much of Eden’s creative approaches

      context

      Context

      During the 20th century, Cornwall experienced the protracted contraction of its traditional primary industries – fishing, agriculture and mining.

      This has left a legacy of 4,000 hectares derelict land, run-down, inland communities and a unique cultural landscape heritage of old mine sites, associated agricultural landscapes and the country garden estates created with mining finance, manifested today as a characteristic garden heritage.

      The experience of restoring the Lost Gardens of Heligan showed that people’s interaction with plants was at least as interesting as the plants themselves. This approach, taking local, national and international perspectives, offered new opportunities to relate the importance of plants, and therefore the natural world, to the average person. Specific lessons of Heligan:
      • By allowing visitors into the gardens during the restoration work, a sense of ownership – especially in the local community - was built, encouraging repeat visits to check on progress, and act as supporters in the local community;

      • Visitors were fascinated in the stories of the people who tended the plants and the plant uses;

      • The power of emotional engagement through art-led interpretation.
      A Vision for Eden eventually developed into creating a showcase of humanity’s role in the natural world, taking a positive perspective, and gently encouraging visitors – ultimately as part of the solution - simply to care.

      160 hectare site at Boldeva chosen because:
      • It provides a beneficial microclimate for plants.

      • It allows almost complete concealment of the site from the surrounding land – almost invisible until the visitor makes an entrance into the dramatic landscape on exiting the Visitor Centre.

      • It demonstrates boldly that the planet’s despoilation by people can be reversed

      outcomes

      Outcomes - Successes

      Eden has had a transformational effect on the society and economy of Cornwall in England’s south-western extremity and has been a phenomenal success beyond all expectations. In its first ten years, the ‘Eden Effect’:
      • Injected more than £1 billion value-added (that is, excluding direct expenditures at Eden) into the local economy;

      • Attracted more than 13 million visitors, 47% of whom were ‘extremely or very influenced’ by Eden to choose Cornwall as a holiday destination;

      • Directly created 450 jobs;

      • Hosted over 100,000 schoolchildren on organized schools visits;

      • Supported 2,500 local suppliers;

      • Become a symbol for the environment movement as a ‘can-do’ icon.
      It has done this by creating policies and an ethos to encourage:
      • High quality – Eden prides itself on the quality of its catering, its disability credentials, its interpretation and horticultural excellence and its cleanliness;

      • Local sourcing of supplies (83% of catering supplies and 50% of all supplies from within the county) – worth £10 million per year to the county;

      • Local sourcing of services – communications and marketing activity all supplied from within the county;

      • Employment of local people wherever possible, coupled with a bespoke staff training programme, to encourage employees to strive higher within the organization;

      • Access for people of all physical and learning abilities;

      • Being media savvy – engaging with the broadcast and print media at all levels;

      • Supply chain development – catalyzing suppliers’ abilities to grow their own markets;

      • Local and regional strategic sustainable development initiatives;

      • Innovation. Innovation permeates the organization’s civil engineering, construction, materials sourcing, waste management, employment policy, management structure, external relations, educational programmes, public learning and interpretation, plant health, nutrition and soils, horticultural and exhibit design and more.
      Eden has proved that with some imagination and determination people can produce an enormous positive force for change.

      Eden would not have happened without significant local community support, both from the county and from the site’s immediate neighbours.

      Crucially, the project symbolizes what can be achieved by delivering an ambitious vision borne of local circumstances.

      The project has developed as a major force in Cornwall, not simply in economic terms, but in the creative, enterprising approach it brings to waste management issues, transport, education, horticulture and accessibility issues.

      Outcomes - Lessons learnt

      Some of the key transferable lessons of the Eden Project are:
      • Include the ‘unusual suspects’ to develop novel approaches;

      • Develop local solutions according to local circumstances;

      • Find a proven and charismatic leader;

      • Engage with the local community from the start;

      • Trust the democratic process – don’t just pay lip service to it;

      • Monitor key environmental, social and economic indicators from the start to determine the impact of the regeneration project at a later stage;

      • Develop a vision that excites;

      • Do not compromise on quality;

      • Pursue constructive local employment and sourcing policies to maximize the beneficial footprint of the project;

      • Develop a positive institutional ‘can do’ attitude;

      • Base partnership approaches on building trust and intellectual trade to develop synergy;

      • Make education fun and engage visitors emotionally.

      outcomes

      Parties involved

      Arup
      Environmental engineers
      www.arup.com

      Davis Langdon
      Construction consultants
      www.davislangdon.com

      Eden Trust
      Formal charitable governing body
      www.edenproject.com

      Eden Project
      Development team
      www.edenproject.com
      Key individuals:
      social entrepreneur Tim Smit,
      horticulturalists Philip McMillan Browse and Peter Thoday,
      local architect Jonathan Ball

      Cornwall County Council
      Local authority
      www.cornwall.gov.uk/

      Friends of Heligan
      Supporters group
      www.heligan.com/friends-of-heligan

      Grimshaw Architects
      Architects
      www.grimshaw-architects.com

      Lost Gardens of Heligan
      Visionaries and project Instigators
      www.heligan.com

      Land Use Consultants
      Landscape masterplan
      www.landuse.co.uk

      Local parish councils
      Local contact

      McAlpines Joint Venture
      Main contractors
      www.sir-robert-mcalpine.com

      National Lottery/Millennium Commission
      Main funders
      www.millennium.gov.uk

      Restormel Borough Council
      Local authority
      www.restormel.gov.uk/

      Sensory Trust
      Inclusive environments consultant
      www.sensorytrust.org.uk

      South West Regional Development Agency
      Regional development agency
      www.southwestrda.org.uk


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      Funding and resources

      It would not have been possible to construct Eden and, critically, maintain its educational and regeneration ethos without the huge injection of public funds.

      Total cost (from 1998 to August 2006) £133 million, which came from:
      • National Lottery/ Millennium Commission - £56 million

      • Public sector (EU) - £25 million

      • Public sector (UK) - £21 million

      • Commercial loans - £19 million

      • Self-finance - £12 million

      The £133 million has been spent on:
      • Buildings and infrastructure - £54 million

      • Facilities for education, visitors and staff - £36 million

      • Biomes (big greenhouses) - £21 million

      • Plants and machinery - £12 million

      • Land purchase - £7 million

      • Computer equipment – £2 million

      • Fixtures and fittings - £1 million



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      Special features

      As Eden has grown so has the organisation’s outreach work. It works with a wide range of groups and individuals, building capacity through volunteering opportunities, creative workshops, formal education and community engagement events. The latter includes small projects such as establishing community orchards to large scale developments like St Austell Ecotown.


      photo gallery

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      caterham01

      The Eden Project
      From the air, 2006

      EdenProject01
      © Eden Project



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      caterham02
      Clayfutures
      Capturing local visions for villages in the Mid-Cornwall clay country and areas affected by the proposed St Austell Ecotown development, 2009

      EdenProject02
      © Eden Project


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      caterham03
      IClayfutures
      Capturing local visions for villages in the Mid-Cornwall clay country and areas affected by the proposed St Austell Ecotown development, 2009

      EdenProject03
      © Eden Project


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      caterham04
      Clayfutures
      Capturing local visions for villages in the Mid-Cornwall clay country and areas affected by the proposed St Austell Ecotown development, 2009

      EdenProject04
      © Eden Project


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      caterham05
      Orchard consultation
      Community engagement for setting up a local community orchard, Bugle Village, July 2011

      EdenProject05
      © Eden Project


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      caterham06
      Orchard consultation
      Community engagement for setting up a local community orchard, Bugle Village, July 2011

      EdenProject06
      © Eden Project


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      caterham07
      Orchard consultation
      Community engagement for setting up a local community orchard, Bugle Village, July 2011

      EdenProject07
      © Eden Project


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      caterham08
      Orchard consultation
      Community engagement for setting up a local community orchard, Bugle Village, July 2011

      EdenProject08
      © Eden Project


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      The Eden Project In sequence


      The Eden Project
      From the air, 2006

      EdenProject01
      © Eden Project

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      Clayfutures
      Capturing local visions for villages in the Mid-Cornwall clay country and areas affected by the proposed St Austell Ecotown development, 2009

      EdenProject02
      © Eden Project

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      Clayfutures
      Capturing local visions for villages in the Mid-Cornwall clay country and areas affected by the proposed St Austell Ecotown development, 2009

      EdenProject03
      © Eden Project

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      Clayfutures
      Capturing local visions for villages in the Mid-Cornwall clay country and areas affected by the proposed St Austell Ecotown development, 2009

      EdenProject04
      © Eden Project

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      Orchard consultation
      Community engagement for setting up a local community orchard, Bugle Village, July 2011

      EdenProject05
      © Eden Project

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      Orchard consultation
      Community engagement for setting up a local community orchard, Bugle Village, July 2011

      EdenProject06
      © Eden Project

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      Orchard consultation
      Community engagement for setting up a local community orchard, Bugle Village, July 2011

      EdenProject07
      © Eden Project

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      Orchard consultation
      Community engagement for setting up a local community orchard, Bugle Village, July 2011

      EdenProject08
      © Eden Project

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      Documents available. Please click on the image or information below it to download and display pdfs

      Annual Review 2006-7

      download pdf -
      41 pages A4 5 MB
      Eden Project Annual review

      2006 - 2007



      Annual Review 2007-8

      download pdf -
      23 pages A4 5.2 MB
      Eden Project Annual review

      2007 - 2008



      Annual Review 2008-9

      download pdf -
      48 pages A4 4 MB
      Eden Project Annual review

      2008 - 2009



      Books

      Eden
      by Tim Smit, Eden Project Books, 2011;
      Out of Eden by the Eden Team, Eden Project Books, 2005
      Films available on DVD

      Eden: The Inside Story and The Gardening of Eden.
      Both © The Eden Project Ltd. Obtain from The Eden Project



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      Quotes

      "Eden would not have happened without significant local community support, meaning support from the county as a whole and from the immediate neighbours."

      "The preview opening of Eden’s Visitor Centre, in May 2000, was key to nurturing a sense of ownership in the county, and fuelled a developing sense of anticipation nationally, particularly through the media."


      Pete Whitbread-Abrutat, The Eden Project, 2006


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      Reviews

      "Eden provides an excellent example for the re-use of a brownfield site for a major transformational regeneration project. A china clay pit was chosen to show that people can have a positive impact on their surroundings – hopefully inspiring them into action in their own lives – as an antidote to the constant and consistent bombardment of environmental doom and gloom purveyed daily by the mass media. The regeneration lessons learned from Eden are applicable to anyone or any community or organization, as well as to the mining sector in general."

      Pete Whitbread-Abrutat, The Eden Project, 2006


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      Contacts

      Eden Project
      Bodelva
      Cornwall
      PL24 2SG
      UK

      +44 (0) 1726 811 911
      www.edenproject.com

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      Last updated on:24 August 2010