This blog began with a single question:
How do I live my best life in the world’s greatest city during this climate emergency?
This is not a rhetorical exercise. I’m not here to signal virtue or share vague optimism. I’m looking for practical answers.
This new section, Manifesto, outlines my thinking and specific ideas.
It’s the heart of the blog and the hardest part to write.
Criticism comes cheap. It’s easy to say what should stop: cars on Hammersmith Bridge, wasted public space, policies that ignore carbon. But imagining what should come next, that’s tougher. That’s the work.
I could write a grab bag of punchy one-line policies. It might read well. It wouldn’t change anything. If we’re serious about reimagining Barnes and Mortlake, I need to show the workings. I need to test, iterate, and explain.
So, this Manifesto will unfold in four parts:
Principles – the values guiding this project
Vision – a framework for change
Proposals – specific interventions, big and small
Future living - the combined effect of all the changes
Together, these offer a public declaration. Not of ideology, but of intention. Rooted in evidence, designed for people, and alive to the realities of climate and community alike.
Future living
If every idea I’ve proposed came to life, what would Barnes and Mortlake actually feel like?
This isn’t fantasy urbanism. It’s a stress test.
I think there are good reasons to do this:
Needs - different parts of Barnes and Mortlake have different needs. There has to be away of showing and assessing this mix
Significance - there are many credible ideas. One way of assessing them is to put them side by side. Compare the relative merits in context
Compound - I believe the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts. This is a hypothesis and needs to be tested
Persuasion - Understanding the bigger picture could help win support for tougher local changes
Priorities - Improving Barnes or Mortlake is not a zero-sum game. There are trade-offs required at every step. Being able to see the whole, conjuring the possibilities makes it easier to make this priority calls.
I have shared different ways of doing this - Richmond councl’s future climate scenarios; I wrote about walking from Thames to Thames in 2030; and then were these compelling Mortlake Mash-Up maps:
There are many other devices - films, digital simulations, posters, informal discussion groups. No single format will be enough. But together, they help us see the future not just as abstract policy but as lived experience.
Everything, everywhere, all at once .. and all WIP
This won’t be written in perfect order. It can’t be. I’m not going to wait until I’ve developed a 300-page policy platform before publishing the first idea.
The world doesn’t work like that. Nor do I.
Change is happening all around. Cities evolve, businesses pivot, governments change policy. Even now, with only a hundred blog posts behind me, I feel the momentum building.
So this Manifesto will emerge in fragments. Some ideas will be rough, some more developed. I’ll label proposals as work in progress, because that’s what they are.
And when I misstep, I’ll correct course. I’ve done it before—getting the blog’s boundaries wrong, and then redefining the target area. I’ll do it again.
Curation over creation
Most of what you’ll read here won’t be my invention. And that’s fine by me. I don’t care who comes up with the best ideas. I’ll credit where I can.
My role is more curator than creator. It’s to test ideas, sharpen them, put them in context. I want to build a plausible, people-first vision for Barnes and Mortlake. And when politicians, campaigners or local businesses take the lead, I’ll cheer them on.
More than just decarbonisation
Every proposal supports climate action. But climate isn’t the only goal.
That means safer streets, healthier neighbours, more affordable housing, better schools, stronger community ties. These aren’t extra. They’re the reason I am doing this. They were the motivation for my career in public service.
The task is to deliver all of that and cut emissions. That’s the challenge.
You can find all the current proposals listed here.