Supporters Update: Designathon Success, BBC Coverage & Working Groups

Shiv and I weren’t expecting to be delivering these updates on a fortnightly cadence but so much has gone on that, at least on this occasion, we just had to send another!

‘Designathon’ Event

The in-person event on Wednesday in Camden went incredibly well. 150 people showed up with 4 speakers including the very inspiring Paul Powlesland on being a voice for nature in the planning system and Former Trade and Industry Secretary Dame Patricia Hewitt.

The quality of attendees was amazing — we had scientists, marketers, urban planners, architects, water specialists, community engagement specialists, and more all in attendance. The workshops seemed to get everyone’s juices flowing regarding the challenges ahead.

Amazing Press Coverage

• Seven minutes on BBC Cambridgeshire
• Two-hour phone-in on BBC Suffolk with Forest City taking up the top of the headlines (Shiv almost fell off his chair)
• We made the front page of the print edition Haverhill Echo
• Full article in the Independent, Farmers Weekly, Bury Times, and East Anglia Daily
• A mention in the Economist and a link from the New Statesman

Our website rankings moved from 5th to 1st link for the search term “Forest City” in the last two weeks.

We are launching a design competition starting with a lamppost very soon, so stay tuned!

Local & Central Government

MP Nick Timothy described the plans as “whacky” on the BBC Suffolk phone-in. Following that, West Suffolk council is now fully engaged with us and invited us to brief all the elected officials. The council is a Labour/Greens and Independent alliance. This is a brilliant opening.

It is also worth noting that no one we had spoken to or in MHCLG knew about “Forest Towns”, especially not in the Oxford-Cambridge arc. Was this the government testing out the idea?

Working Groups

Following on from the designathon event in London, we’ll be launching very specific working groups in the next day or two. One of the most remarkable things is how many people who have signed our pledge or attended our event have professional skills which anyone would need if they were building and lobbying for a city.

We need your skills! So get ready to volunteer with groups being led by appointed experts.

Coming Up Soon

• Design Competition Launch
• Expert Committee Announcement
• Cambridge designathon event — come join and tell friends about it!

Until next time,
Joe & Shiv