The more I hear about the environmental situation regarding the ‘Thames Gateway’ redevelopment the more I wonder how the area is going to cope.

Even now we are hearing stories that this year there will be significant water shortages in SE England, never mind the additional demand of an extra million people and associated infrastructure. The lack of winter rainfall is undoubtedly a sign that a large amount of water is remaining in the sea (in addition to that being added by ice-cap melting) which can only worsen the situation of the areas being ‘planned’ on flood plains – we can at least rest assured that the insurance market will determine the value of such developments.

(Since I wrote that paragraph it has been reported that Kent Water will be allowed to compel residents to install water meters)

In addition to such concerns the utterly political excercise of producing a £60,000 house for ‘keyworkers’ is producing a number of lacklustre and shoddy designs for houses – the life expectancy of some of the cheaper ‘affordable homes’ is less than ten years (I am sure I read that a £30k home could be built but would have a 5 year lifespan), making the resale value negligible and not a sound investment by any means. If the government weren’t determined to tie developers to producing ownable homes rather than rented accommodation the quality of housing for key workers could be much improved.
Cheap, non-traditional housing types will have higher insurance premiums and probably more onerous mortgage requirements thus increasing the day to day costs for workers rather than reducing them. In addition to utility, transport and taxation costs rising above the rate of inflation.

Additionally the short term succouring of the demand for more key workers in the SE will just further increase demand down the line, it would be better to let individuals decide whether they can afford to live in the SE/London with expensive services or decamp north/westwards where the price of living is generally lower.

I could go on, and probably will in another post. (Can we have a Cassandra category?)

Technorati Tags: Thames, Gateway, water

My sister is emigrating to Australia in a few months… Can anyone recommend a video camera setup for keeping in touch? I’ve read mixed reviews of the iSight, and am not convinved by Apple peripherals in general. Mac this end, PC hers.

Merci beau.

Call for applications for the
MP- Scientist Pairing Scheme 2006

Are you a scientist with an interest in politics?  The Royal Society is currently inviting applications from scientists to take part in the 2006 round of its successful MP-Scientist pairing scheme.

The scheme helps build bridges between parliamentarians and scientists in theUK. MP and scientist pairs spend time together in the laboratory and the constituency followed by an opportunity for scientists to go behind the scenes at Westminster gaining first hand experience of how science policy is formed.

We are looking to recruit post-doctoral scientists either with a research fellowship or working at a Research Council institute and a proven interest in science communication and matters relating to science policy.

[…]

I would apply, only I have no interest in politics….

Do I?

Thanks to Josh Carr, longtime BLOGDIAL poster, you now have your name underneath the title of your post, and a list of ten ecent comments in the sidebar.

Josh took time off from his work to Skype and walk me throught putting in the pieces of PHP where they needed to go. Thanks again Josh!

Slashdot is dying, and this is another example of why.

I just posted ATs amazing link to the BBQ Newsblight admission that filesharing is not theft, a great link, no doubt about it.

I posted it on Digg; 1 hour, 36 minutes later, its on the front page, blasting BBQ with a Diggstorm of traffic. I submitted the same story to Slashdot:

It’s Official: “File sharing is not theft.”
Wed March 01, 04:24 PM Rejected

And there you have it.

Why should anyone bother to submit stories to Slashdot, when they are going to be rejected, no matter how hot they are? And now with Digg’s new and superb commenting system coming online soon, there will be no reason to visit slashdot ever again. All the teenage trolls will dissapear from view, you can get cool stories on the frontpage guaranteed – as long as they really are cool – and be guaranteed that no one else’s cool stories are being rejected and kept from your view.

UPDATE: here is a torrent of the Newsblight item.

Dear Irdial,

President George Bush has come to Congress – to the American people, really – to ask for another $65 billion for war in the Middle East. It’s the fourth time in three years the Administration has asked for extra, unplanned billions to be taken from other needs. What will he do with the money? We’re told this $65 billion (in addition to the $241 billion spent so far¹) will be used to “stay the course.”

Problem is, no one – not Mr. Bush nor Vice President Dick Cheney nor Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld – seems to know what “the course” is. All citizens are offered is more of the same policies – the same policies which have led Iraq to the brink of civil war and bogged our troops in a hopeless quagmire.

Enough is enough!

Let’s tell Congress that it’s time to use their Constitutional auth […]

Blah blah blah, whine whine whine…

If you don’t want this, DONT PAY FOR IT YOU IDIOTS.

Would you losers keep going to Wendy’s if they consistently forgot to put the burger in your bun every time you made an order?

Of course you wouldn’t, and this is no different. Stop shopping at McWarMachine!

File sharing is not theft. It has never been theft.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4758636.stm

[…]

http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3407088

Watch this.

The 1972 installment “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” then picked up the action in the year 1991. Since the events of the prior film, much has changed on Earth. A space-borne plague has killed all cats and dogs on the planet, while also stimulating mental development of the lower primates. At first, humans use primates to replace their lost pets, but eventually they find them useful for menial labor, which ultimately creates a slave class. Zira’s baby, now 18 and named Caesar (played again by McDowall) initiates a rebellion after seeing the cruel and inhumane treatment of his primate brethren at the hands of their human masters. The rise of the “Planet of the Apes” had begun, using images that spoke to the racial intolerance and violence that plagued modern-day American society. […]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4761024.stm 

???!!!