On International Women's Day let's celebrate Florence Gersten
Anyone who has spent any time at Liverpool council's planning committee will be familiar with Florence Gersten.
On first sight Florence might appear like a frail old woman as she suffers with limited mobility.
But that disguises one of the most agile minds set to use in the town hall chamber.
The tireless conservation and heritage campaigner is the face of the Save our City campaign.
Her observations on planning applications are interspersed with an unbelievable level of detail about the heritage of some of Liverpool's finest buildings.
In a cynical age, Florence is the face of idealism and development as it ought to be. It can't always be the way Florence would like it because of economic reality, but I like to see her as the conscience of urban planning in Liverpool.
So here's to Florence on International Women's Day, Liverpool would be a poorer place without her.
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Dale Street Associates
David Bartlett
City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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Hear! Hear!
I was particularly pleased that last year, when the Planning and Conservation team at Liverpool City Council moved offices, changing the location of the place where plans can be viewed by members of the public, they took special care to talk to Florence personally about how she could be best accomodated at the new location.
Florence is indeed the city's Heritage Conscience and we should all be very grateful to her for keeping that watchful eye on our precious buildings and green spaces.