South Wales Sam Romaya has taken over the torch from Gordon Lewis, and a programme comprising three talks and two workshops is planned for the rest of the year, with transactions possibly being published with sponsorship support. North West Andy Farrall took over from Stephen Gleave last year, and can be contacted at Chester City Council. The Dutch are masters at taming water. But, as professor Roger Smook from Delft University stressed during his talk to the Urban Design Group in January, there is always a price to pay. Working in the department of civil engineering, he knows that the only way to fight both the sea and the streams is to strengthen the dikes, but it is the politicians who decide that costs are prohibitive.
Similar dilemmas occur in other man made waterscapes.
Amsterdam's canals may attract tourists. Their main purpose is to give stability to the built fabric, thereby petrifying the Binnenstad. New activities move out of town and invade the scarce open spaces of the most densely populated country in Europe. The planners of arguably the most plan-led country in the world have to cope with contradictions beyond their control. In the expansionist sixties, new polders built since the 1916 floods were earmarked for urban dwellers.