Greenbelt Quiz

Mark's quiz on manifestos that he linked to reminded me of this fun quiz on Estates Gazette about Hallowed Greenbelt. It's not that hard to get full marks (tip: the dull countryside around Oxford is greenbelt, the beautiful countryside around Chipping Norton isn't).

Why there are so few tourists in central London, Rome & Bruges

Via Khards at HPC, from The Oxford Mail:

The medieval centre of Oxford itself is incapable of satisfactorily supporting a larger city and the tourist income which is so important relies on the city’s setting which the green belt protects.

The penny has dropped... that's why you don't see any tourists in London, Rome, Bruges or places like that because they don't have a Hallowed Green Belt. Munich is also pretty much a tourist-free zone, as is New York City etc.

The ultimate kick in the teeth is in the title:

"It is vital we protect green belts for future generations"

It's not much fucking good to them if they can't afford to live anywhere near it. Where is the logic here, "I'm sorry you can't afford a house, but if you could afford one, then at least it would have a nice view"?

Pinewood Studios

From the BBC

The famous film company Pinewood is to set up a new studio in Cardiff.

Pinewood Studios Wales will be based at the former Energy Centre building in Wentloog and will form part of the company's global network.

The deal was announced on Monday by First Minister Carwyn Jones and Pinewood Shepperton chief executive Ivan Dunleavy.

From the BBC (May 2013)

The rejection of a £200m expansion of Buckinghamshire's Pinewood Studios is "hard to believe" in the current economic climate, company bosses say.

The 15-year project for new studios, stages and streetscapes at the site in Iver Heath, was turned down by South Bucks District Council on Wednesday.

It ruled it was an "inappropriate" expansion into green belt land.

If you read both articles, they wanted to build 100,000 sq/m of studio in Buckinghamshire and now have 180,000 sq/m in Newport.

So Pinewood tried to expand where they were, the Homeys opposed it, so Pinewood decided to move a bit of the studio to Newport (not Cardiff) which is not so Homey.

They'll soon find they can operate cheaper out there at which point most of the rest of the studio will probably move.