Cyrene in BBC R4's "From Our Own Correspondent"

There was a good article on Saturday's From Our Own Correspondent (09/07/11) on BBC Radio 4 about our old stomping ground, Cyrene, in Libya's Jebel Akhdar or Geen Mountain region. Justin Marozzi had evidently called in on the ancient Hellenistic & Roman city ruins en route to Benghazi and met up with names known to us through our work there in 2009-2011.

In 2009, Cullinans prepared visitor strategies and masterplans proposals for four of eastern Libya's ancient city sites - Techira, Ptolemais, Apollonia and Cyrene - as part of the Green Mountain project with Ramboll UK. More recently, our masterplan for a new, carbon neutral city for 60,000 people - Shahat Garden City - just 7km south of Cyrene, would have introduced innovative, low enegry urban design solutions to the the region, helping to tackle the Jebal Akhdar's housing shortage as well as future energy needs.

Marozzi found the Cyrene site to be just as we knew it, only before February there was the odd international visitor or achaeologist to be found there: red earth, goats, wild flowers, increadible views north to the Mediterranean and an amazingly complete city in need of better care.