Maharishi European Sidhaland (Skelmersdale) wins prestigious British Urban Regeneration Association award for "Best Practice in Regeneration"

Judges cite "outstanding and unique" approach

Press contact: Keith Laycock Tel/fax: 01695 557922 e-mail: keithlaycock@aol.com
Maharishi Golden Dome, Woodley Park, Skelmersdale, Lancashire WN8 6UQ

2 October 2000:
The Maharishi European Sidhaland, a community development project in Skelmersdale in Lancashire which is just celebrating its twentieth anniversary this month, has won a prestigious British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) Award for Best Practice in Regeneration ­ one of six such awards being presented this Millennium year chosen from 60 nominations.

The awards will be presented by the Rt. Hon Hilary Armstrong MP, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, at a ceremony on 4th October in the Banqueting House, Whitehall, London, sponsored by the National House Building Council and English Partnerships.

A joined-up approach

In their assessment the BURA judges concluded that this is an outstanding example of best practice "in ways which are totally different from any project previously submitted for a BURA Award . . . It represents an unconventional joined-up approach which addresses education, health, housing, employment and crime in a positive and unusual way. It has a qualitative impact on the surrounding area and promotes regeneration by motivating the individual within the community."

Chairman of the Trustees of Maharishi Foundation, Dr Geoffrey Clements, said: "In recognising the tremendous achievement of the Maharishi European Sidhaland, BURA has alerted everyone to the potential of our unique integrated programme for regeneration of the community. Any council or developer can incorporate this approach and create an ideal quality of life for their residents."

Maharishi Foundation is the educational charity in the UK (registered charity 270157) that teaches Transcendental Meditation founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Maharishi Foundation established the Maharishi European Sidhaland in 1980, as a special project to improve the quality of life in the area and the nation as a whole.

A total community project

The Maharishi European Sidhaland is centred around a community facility (the Maharishi Golden Dome) which is supported by 500 residents and associate members, many of whom live nearby in a low-density layout of 75 privately owned houses. The site includes a Maharishi Vedic Health Centre offering a profound and effective approach to natural health care; a small business centre, a sports and arts centre (nearing completion) and some open space.

The houses have been designed and constructed by NHBC, registered housebuilding companies set up for the purpose by the community, and the whole project is sited on land bought in 1986 from Commission for the New Towns (the predecessor to English Partnerships). The community is currently pioneering the use in this country of Maharishi Sthapatya Veda, an ancient system of building in tune with natural law, with benefits for health and well-being of the occupants.

Ten minutes walk away is the Maharishi School which offers consciousness-based education, using Transcendental Meditation for full development of the brain. Academically this is one of the most successful schools in the country, and pupils repeatedly win national prizes. BURA wrote that the school 'is particularly impressive', and that the architectural principles of Maharishi Sthapatya Veda 'should be more widely disseminated'. BURA will in fact be circulating a booklet outlining each award-winning project to 3000 local government offices and other agencies involved with planning and regeneration, as well as to construction companies.

BURA best practice awards

The British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) is the leading independent organisation concerned with the regeneration of towns, cities and regions. It was set up by Lord Jenkin ten years ago, to look for and encourage best practice within urban and rural renewal. The impetus to form BURA arose from the urgent need to find ways to improve the quality of life in inner cities, after the inner city riots of 1985.

According to BURA's General Secretary, Gerald Carey-Elwes, the awards aim to promote best practice ­ "not just good or average" ­ in urban regeneration, "basically trying to prevent people from making the same mistakes that have been made before, trying to push innovative thinking in front of people." BURA look for innovative projects that demonstrate environmental sustainability, that contribute to community spirit and the local economy and create regeneration momentum through acting as a catalyst for further regeneration.

The Maharishi European Sidhaland fulfils all these criteria. Flourishing businesses set up by the members of the project have created additional employment in the area. The Maharishi School increasingly attracts children from nearby towns and villages. The Maharishi Vedic Health Centre serves the whole country.

The new sports and arts centre that is being built according to principles of Maharishi Sthapatya Veda will be used by groups and individuals from outside as well as from inside the community. Each of these facilities is a success in its own right and in addition reaches out to the wider community.

Regeneration of the whole area

A unique element in the regeneration created by the Maharishi European Sidhaland has been its programme of creating coherence and positivity in the surrounding area through a 'field effect of consciousness': an influence of orderliness and harmony that is generated whenever there is a large group of people practising Transcendental Meditation and the more advanced practice known as the TM-Sidhi programme (from which the name "Sidhaland" is derived).

Over 40 scientific research studies from around the world have shown that the group practice of the TM-Sidhi programme by a small fraction of a population (the square root of 1% ) produces a positive impact on the quality of individual life and that of the surrounding community. The project in Skelmersdale was established to replicate these improvements in reduced crime and improved economic health.

20 years later, employment is now high and there has been economic growth in the town. Meanwhile a highly significant reduction in the crime rate for Merseyside ­ the nearest metropolitan area to Skelmersdale ­ was monitored from 1988 to 1992, and was detailed in a study published in 1996 in the peer-reviewed journal Psychology, Crime, and Law. These benefits to the area more than justify the original reason for establishing the project.

An integrated approach to regeneration

John Renwick, one of the directors of the Maharishi European Sidhaland, said: "We feel we have an effective approach to community regeneration which includes buildings, business, education, health, and quality of life. The ideas are clearly adaptable to other urban situations and we are ready to offer our help and expertise to anyone wishing to implement them. We hope that this BURA Award will inspire many to take up our offer."

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Some principal features of the Maharishi European Sidhaland:

The Maharishi Golden Dome

The Maharishi Golden Dome was completed in 1988, and has acted as a focus for expanding the numbers in the community. The laminated timber ribbed dome is a unique low-energy construction, situated at the heart of the Sidhaland. This 10,000 sq.ft community centre includes a restaurant, administrative office, and meeting rooms for courses. These are held on a daily basis, with larger seminars and conferences on a variety of subjects held throughout the year. The Dome also serves as the central facility for practice of TM and the TM-Sidhi programmes twice a day.

Housing Development

About one half of the members live in two developments of low-density housing constructed by companies within the Maharishi European Sidhaland, comprising approximately 75 homes including detached and semi-detached houses and a number of flats. Many people from the surrounding area are now also involved with the project. The development of a business centre within the residential area gives some members the chance to take advantage of teleworking within a walk-to-work environment.

The Maharishi School

The Maharishi School provides high quality education in a nurturing environment for children from the Sidhaland, and increasingly from surrounding towns. It is an independent, non-selective school which last year was equal top in the league tables for Lancashire, and tenth in England, in addition winning many national prizes. All the pupils and staff learn Transcendental Meditation which has long been known as an educational tool, for improving IQ, exam results, memory and general student well being. In addition, the school offers an integrated approach to learning, in which each subject is studied in terms of the universal principles of intelligence that are common to every discipline. "The school is particularly impressive¹"- BURA

Health Centre

The Maharishi Vedic Health Centre has been established here since 1986, offering a comprehensive approach to natural health care, for prevention of disease and promotion of health and longevity. Most of the members of the Sidhaland take advantage of its benefits, and it also attracts clients from all over Britain. There are over 600 studies on the benefits of Maharishi's Vedic Approach to Health, copies of which are available on request.

Maharishi Ayur-Veda Products is a company based at the Maharishi European Sidhaland employing 20 people, which, in addition to managing the health centre, also sells products and literature by mail order throughout Britain and further afield and is a member of a world-wide group whose manufacturing facility in India has recently become the first Indian producer of Ayurvedic natural remedies to receive ISO9001 quality assurance certification.

Healthy Building

Maharishi Sthapatya Veda is an ancient system of building which promotes positive health for residents. All new housing in the Sidhaland is now built according to the principles of Maharishi Sthapatya Veda, and elements of this system have recently been incorporated in the Dome. The new sports and arts centre is being built in accord with Maharishi Sthapatya Veda principles, and this will be used both by the school and by the wider community. It is also seen as a way of providing out-of-school-hours facilities for young people. The centre has attracted considerable interest from the construction industry for its use of environment-friendly construction and natural building materials, in particular rammed earth.

"The architectural principles of Sthapatya Veda ... should be more widely disseminated¹ - BURA

Outreach

It has a qualitative impact on the surrounding area and promotes regeneration by motivating the individual within the community.¹ - BURA. Many visitors from around the world have visited the project and have been inspired to establish elements of it in their own country. Thirty ambassadors from overseas recently attended a presentation in London about the Maharishi School. Some of these are now actively looking to incorporate the system of education within their own countries.

"It represents an unconventional joined-up approach which addresses education, health, housing, employment and crime in a positive and unusual way.¹ - BURA