Jonathan Smales, Human Nature Founder & CEO, on why the Phoenix is an extraordinary opportunity to make a viable and elegant place that can help us all change the way we think about what a far, far better, sustainable future can be
Dear friends,
I moved to Lewes six years ago to make a home, believing it to be a lovely place to raise our then three year-old daughter. My wife, Joanna, was born here. The Yarrow clan has deep roots in the town – her father Chris hails from Lewes too and his father, former Mayor and bonfire enthusiast, Reg, and mum Gladys were notable stalwarts of this community.
I’ve been involved in design and building since 1989 when I bought a former animal testing laboratory in Islington for the new Greenpeace HQ. Our team was growing quickly as evidence of environmental collapse was mounting ominously and our campaigns struck a chord. More in luck perhaps than judgement we contrived to make our new building – a refurbishment – the first green office building in London, perhaps even in the UK. I got the bug to do more.
I love building – it can be such a creative, positive thing. And over many years working on built environment and place projects all over the country – from the London 2012 Olympic Park and Legacy, regeneration projects in Newcastle and Manchester and new communities in Essex, the Midlands and Hampshire – I’ve come to think that, done well, it’s a key component of any solution to global climate and nature crises. I have also seen close up that, done badly, it can be one of the most careless and deadly, planet-killing industries.
I don’t know about you but when putting my daughter to bed each night I am sickened by the thought of what we have done to her future and how we just keep on blithely killing the biosphere, threatening the world she and her friends depend on. Why does she have to travel on the ‘highway to hell’, as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, put it?
We don’t need any more declarations of climate emergency – we need action. We need hopeful, change projects at scale that can help transform the way we think and act to address these massive threats and I put it to you that the Phoenix is one such.
I also think that, done well, with affordable living (not just housing) at its heart, beautiful, free public spaces, shared transport and new training and employment, the Phoenix and community projects like it can help heal social divisions, exclusion and poverty that combine to bring misery to many and now, arguably, threaten the fabric of our society.
So, when reaching out to the admirable people who formed and ran the remarkable Phoenix Rising campaign, I was thrilled to be invited to look at the Phoenix industrial land. It is an extraordinary opportunity, after previous failed attempts, to make a viable and elegant place that can help us all change the way we think about what a far, far better, sustainable future can be. And not in denial of climate and nature crises – pretending like most other developments that they are some kind of irrelevant inconvenience – but by facing up to them directly and designing accordingly.
When we began working to plan and design the Phoenix we were in Covid lockdown. It was extremely difficult to engage people in the early ideas for this new neighbourhood and I would have liked to have done more of that. Nonetheless, more than 4,000 people have joined in our various exhibitions, community meetings and working groups, helping to shape the scheme. We are truly grateful for all of the ideas and encouragement we received during this process. It is no secret that planning has not been an easy ride, nor should it be. Projects at this scale have to meticulously evidence their ideas, plans and designs and their prospective impacts – hence the thousands of pages of documentation and extensive Design & Access Statement and the millions of pounds invested to date.
All change can be challenging and Phoenix is a big project. But arguably as we live through a new era in human history we do need to look to new models of development and place. Models that free us from dependence on the car, make our town more walkable, the streets safer and greener, easier for cyclists to navigate, that offer choice in housing (and especially in meeting the need for smaller homes for young people and older people no longer needing or wanting large houses that are expensive to heat and maintain). We need to clean the air, build in green ways using natural materials (including from Sussex), protect from flooding, generate and distribute clean and renewable energy, create more civic, neighbourly places and spaces. And much more.
And has the ladder been pulled up a bit too high in Lewes? Is our ageing demographic short-changing young people who want to live and work here? Are we generating sufficient prosperity, economic vitality and opportunity? Are we building enough affordable homes generally across our town?
In order for Lewes to thrive in a National Park, it needs new homes, workspaces and community spaces. The working age population of the town is declining as the over 65 population goes up, with school rolls falling – worrying signs for the long-term future of the town. We all have a responsibility to deal with this by creating opportunities for young people and young families to stay and prosper in Lewes.
Phoenix will be the largest affordable housing scheme ever in the National Park and in this District. We get no subsidy for this by the way – it, like the flood defences and land remediation after years of industrial activity are to be paid for by the sale of open market homes.
The world can be a frightening place as we approach the second quarter of the 21st century. Time seems to be speeding up and global problems can feel overwhelming. To me, this is why we must strengthen resilience, refresh our economy, build sustainably and well, create a fairer society, provide beautiful public space and community resources and innovate creatively to painstakingly craft our new, better world. And what better place than Lewes, this finest of English towns, working together with our communities, businesses and councils and incredible creative talent, to show here what can be done?
Please mobilise and get behind the proposals for the Phoenix. It’s time now to remove dereliction, bring new life and new ideas to fruition. Please write to the National Park to express your support. Let’s not stand by assuming others will speak up for what you believe – can we propose with the same enthusiasm and energy we find to oppose? Will Phoenix Rise? It must.
Jonathan Smales and the Human Nature team
Jonathan Smales, Human Nature Founder & CEO, on why the Phoenix is an extraordinary opportunity to make a viable and elegant place that can help us all change the way we think about what a far, far better, sustainable future can be
Dear friends,
I moved to Lewes six years ago to make a home, believing it to be a lovely place to raise our then three year-old daughter. My wife, Joanna, was born here. The Yarrow clan has deep roots in the town – her father Chris hails from Lewes too and his father, former Mayor and bonfire enthusiast, Reg, and mum Gladys were notable stalwarts of this community.
I’ve been involved in design and building since 1989 when I bought a former animal testing laboratory in Islington for the new Greenpeace HQ. Our team was growing quickly as evidence of environmental collapse was mounting ominously and our campaigns struck a chord. More in luck perhaps than judgement we contrived to make our new building – a refurbishment – the first green office building in London, perhaps even in the UK. I got the bug to do more.
I love building – it can be such a creative, positive thing. And over many years working on built environment and place projects all over the country – from the London 2012 Olympic Park and Legacy, regeneration projects in Newcastle and Manchester and new communities in Essex, the Midlands and Hampshire – I’ve come to think that, done well, it’s a key component of any solution to global climate and nature crises. I have also seen close up that, done badly, it can be one of the most careless and deadly, planet-killing industries.
I don’t know about you but when putting my daughter to bed each night I am sickened by the thought of what we have done to her future and how we just keep on blithely killing the biosphere, threatening the world she and her friends depend on. Why does she have to travel on the ‘highway to hell’, as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, put it?
We don’t need any more declarations of climate emergency – we need action. We need hopeful, change projects at scale that can help transform the way we think and act to address these massive threats and I put it to you that the Phoenix is one such.
I also think that, done well, with affordable living (not just housing) at its heart, beautiful, free public spaces, shared transport and new training and employment, the Phoenix and community projects like it can help heal social divisions, exclusion and poverty that combine to bring misery to many and now, arguably, threaten the fabric of our society.
So, when reaching out to the admirable people who formed and ran the remarkable Phoenix Rising campaign, I was thrilled to be invited to look at the Phoenix industrial land. It is an extraordinary opportunity, after previous failed attempts, to make a viable and elegant place that can help us all change the way we think about what a far, far better, sustainable future can be. And not in denial of climate and nature crises – pretending like most other developments that they are some kind of irrelevant inconvenience – but by facing up to them directly and designing accordingly.
When we began working to plan and design the Phoenix we were in Covid lockdown. It was extremely difficult to engage people in the early ideas for this new neighbourhood and I would have liked to have done more of that. Nonetheless, more than 4,000 people have joined in our various exhibitions, community meetings and working groups, helping to shape the scheme. We are truly grateful for all of the ideas and encouragement we received during this process. It is no secret that planning has not been an easy ride, nor should it be. Projects at this scale have to meticulously evidence their ideas, plans and designs and their prospective impacts – hence the thousands of pages of documentation and extensive Design & Access Statement and the millions of pounds invested to date.
All change can be challenging and Phoenix is a big project. But arguably as we live through a new era in human history we do need to look to new models of development and place. Models that free us from dependence on the car, make our town more walkable, the streets safer and greener, easier for cyclists to navigate, that offer choice in housing (and especially in meeting the need for smaller homes for young people and older people no longer needing or wanting large houses that are expensive to heat and maintain). We need to clean the air, build in green ways using natural materials (including from Sussex), protect from flooding, generate and distribute clean and renewable energy, create more civic, neighbourly places and spaces. And much more.
And has the ladder been pulled up a bit too high in Lewes? Is our ageing demographic short-changing young people who want to live and work here? Are we generating sufficient prosperity, economic vitality and opportunity? Are we building enough affordable homes generally across our town?
In order for Lewes to thrive in a National Park, it needs new homes, workspaces and community spaces. The working age population of the town is declining as the over 65 population goes up, with school rolls falling – worrying signs for the long-term future of the town. We all have a responsibility to deal with this by creating opportunities for young people and young families to stay and prosper in Lewes.
Phoenix will be the largest affordable housing scheme ever in the National Park and in this District. We get no subsidy for this by the way – it, like the flood defences and land remediation after years of industrial activity are to be paid for by the sale of open market homes.
The world can be a frightening place as we approach the second quarter of the 21st century. Time seems to be speeding up and global problems can feel overwhelming. To me, this is why we must strengthen resilience, refresh our economy, build sustainably and well, create a fairer society, provide beautiful public space and community resources and innovate creatively to painstakingly craft our new, better world. And what better place than Lewes, this finest of English towns, working together with our communities, businesses and councils and incredible creative talent, to show here what can be done?
Please mobilise and get behind the proposals for the Phoenix. It’s time now to remove dereliction, bring new life and new ideas to fruition. Please write to the National Park to express your support. Let’s not stand by assuming others will speak up for what you believe – can we propose with the same enthusiasm and energy we find to oppose? Will Phoenix Rise? It must.
Jonathan Smales and the Human Nature team