Better Bankside Director of Place, Sue Morgan London, Community Building Redevelopment News

Director of Place at Better Bankside, London

14 June 2021

Better Bankside Director of Place – Sue Morgan

Location: Bankside, London SE1, England, UK

Appointment Of Major New Role At Better Bankside To Lead Urban Renewal Of ‘london’s Other Side’

14/6/21 — Sue Morgan, Executive Director at Design Council, has been appointed to the brand-new post of Director of Place at Better Bankside. As urban centres enter a period of renewal, Sue will lead on taking one of the most vibrant cultural and business districts in the world to the next level.

Bankside is ‘London’s Other Side’, a neighbourhood that has experienced constant reinvention. From its earliest days, the area’s location outside the walls of the City made it a natural landing place for outsiders and free thinkers. Better Bankside is a Business Improvement District that does things differently, with a track record of developing imaginative solutions to urban challenges, staying true to Bankside’s spirit of otherness.

Sue Morgan, Better Bankside Director of Place:

Drawing on her 25 years of experience in the built environment, Sue will continue that spirit of innovation, steering the neighbourhood’s response to the climate crisis and driving transformation through Better Bankside’s pioneering placemaking programme, Bankside Urban Forest.

Following leadership and founding roles at Design Council, Wandle Valley Regional Park Trust and the Around the Block Ltd, Sue’s experience will enable Better Bankside to build upon its series of established urban realm projects; this includes the Low Line, an ambitious scheme to reimagine the great Victorian railway viaduct meandering through Bankside and neighbouring south London districts. Through a multi-agency partnership, a corridor of innovation is being created: opening disused and inaccessible spaces in and around the viaduct, showcasing innovative models of development with a sustainable and people centred approach, and celebrating the neighbourhoods and communities along its course.

Sue’s Bankside connections are longstanding; in 1997 she founded environmental and volunteering charity, Bankside Open Spaces Trust, to protect and enhance parks and gardens in the area. She held a senior position within London Borough of Southwark and worked with Better Bankside in its early days as one of the first BIDs to be established in the UK.

Sue’s connection with the Design Council, where she oversaw the expansion and growth of a diverse portfolio of programmes, will continue as both she and Better Bankside are part of the Council’s network of experts. She is also a Director of the Parks Alliance, a Civic Trust Buildings & Landscape Awards Assessor, a Landscape Institute Awards judge, and Heritage Lottery Fund Mentor.

Nicole Gordon, Better Bankside’s CEO, commented, “The creation of the Director of Place role is a real statement of intent for Better Bankside and we’re excited to have such a brilliant candidate to lead the charge. Bankside is a place for firsts in the public realm – an urban laboratory. We can’t wait to see what new ideas Sue brings to the neighbourhood.”

Sue Morgan said, “I am thrilled to be joining Better Bankside as Director of Place, I have always loved working in Southwark and SE1 and this feels like a return home. I am looking forward to the challenge of supporting Bankside businesses and communities through Covid recovery and finding ways to deliver on net zero in this new phase of London’s evolution.”

Sue Morgan joins Better Bankside at an exciting moment in its evolution and growth; it was recently selected by the Mayor of London as the single launch partner for the Business Climate Challenge, with Bankside businesses committing to reducing the energy consumption of their buildings and contributing to Bankside’s target of becoming a zero-carbon neighbourhood by 2030.

Works are currently underway at Ewer Street arches on the Low Line to house a Green Logistics Centre, where local businesses will consolidate their deliveries to reduce the number of polluting vehicle journeys in the neighbourhood. A micro-logistics facility of this kind is a first for London.

Better Bankside Director of Place, London images / information received 140621

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