The Pineapple for Health Homes winner for 2026 has been announced! Farmstead Road is an inspiring scheme of 24 PassivHaus affordable homes in LB of Lewisham - produced for Phoenix Community Housing with Buxton Building Contractors, Metropolitan Workshop, Jubb, BPTW, Potter Raper, Etude, LUC & PJR

📝 New data by Office for National Statistics highlight people living in the most deprived areas across England & Wales spend around 15-20% less of their lives in good health compared to those in the least deprived areas. This often means living almost two decades with poor health. bit.ly/4cQ1bg7

The 𝘓𝘙𝘉 is looking for an experienced freelance podcast producer to work on our fortnightly UK-focused politics podcast. The deadline for applications is the 31 March. More information about the role and how to apply can be found here: www.lrb.co.uk/jobs

EVENTS! Tickets available for Tales of the Suburbs events in Crystal Palace (tonight), Bath (Saturday), Edinburgh and Glasgow (next week), Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham (the week after), plus Milton Keynes. More to follow! Please come along x www.johngrindrod.co.uk/events

Defra issued new strategic policy statements for the Environment Agency & Natural England last week, pushing them to prioritise economic growth. There are a number of questions to raise on this...(1/)

Why is this government so useless on women's rights, and protecting single-sex spaces? On the one hand they welcome the Supreme Court judgment, on the other they are trying to thwart it. It's cynical, and insulting. comment.press/govt-womens-...

👀 VACANCY: Nature in Sacred Spaces Project Manager @naturalengland.bsky.social www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...

'Danish startup creates the world’s first cultivated outdoor paver – a natural alternative to cement' (Tip top) www.visibuilt.com/danish-start...

The DfT is doing some consultation on the new Manual for Streets with professional bodies and others (I don't know the full list). As I understand it, there will be three sections and section A was released just before Xmas with a response deadline just after.

Before Christmas the Baroness Amos report into maternity and neonatal care was pretty horrific reading. Women not being listened to, mums and babies being harmed or even dying. And perhaps most depressing of all...none of it was a surprise. Multiple reports over multiple years have told us the same

Around 1 in 5 of us are harmed by gambling, including through stretched public services, financial problems and suicide. These harms disproportionately impact the most vulnerable. That is why we are supporting this campaign along with MPs from across the political spectrum⬇️

Good morning friends! While lupines are ubiquitous signs of spring & summer in both Chilean & Argentinian Patagonia, I find the color palette gets more interesting the farther south you go. These beauties literally line the streets of Punta Arenas.

The post-war #NewTowns provided homes that people could afford to rent - there is a risk that the propsednext New Towns won't: www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

📊At age five, nearly 60%of boys from low-income families are not ready to get the most out of school. @instituteforgovernment.org.uk recent report 'Starting Behind, Staying Behind' explores how boys from low-income families are at risk of being overlooked or under-resourced by policymaking.

Voters want #housebuilding, but not at the expense of #nature, says @luketryl.bsky.social writing in the #FT. Housing development that includes #parks and green spaces and enhances #nature would be a vote winner. Pitching nature as a blocker to progress is not.

It's ridiculous that the Government *still* haven't banned the sale of peat. Peat bogs are still getting dug up and used for compost and in horticulture. Ministers say they'll ban it 'when time allows'. Get on with it already! Sign the petition: actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...

A very good read:

Significant detail in the government's #child #poverty strategy: section 1 of the #Equality Act (2010), the socio-economic duty, will be commenced and public authorities will have to consider the impact of their #policies on poverty and #inequality. Could be transformational?

We're hiring! New Nature Recovery Ranger roles for healthcare sites in Manchester, Stockport, Bradford and London. Closing date - 12 January. Apply now: https://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/career/nature-recovery-ranger/ #hiring #naturerecovery

Highly recommend 'Three Ages of a Child' #BBCRadio4! @drguddisingh.bsky.social looks into why UK children face some of the worst health outcomes in Europe. Addressing housing, education, diet, the importance of play & community carers – + great projects on all these. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Last week I gave evidence to the House of Lords' Built Environment committee 🔻 saying that it's vital that every new #home is of a basic good quality such that its occupants can live healthy lives...

New English Housing Survey out today, and it is still saying that average household sizes are far lower than pre-pandemic even though (a) the population didn't fall and (b) neither did the number or rate of empty homes. Which is a puzzle. www.gov.uk/government/c...

Do listen to this, it's lovely 🔻 And if you can, please donate, to help plant #trees where they are needed most 🍂 🌳🪾

🏘️ Up to £19.8 million is available to councils in England to support the release of brownfield land for #housing development, delivered by One Public Estate. Find out more and apply on our website: www.local.gov.uk/our-support/...

This is really very good 🔻. The thing it misses is that air pollution is a *huge* public health problem: the cleaner air caused by the bridge being closed to traffic will be measurably improving the health of a large population and saving the #NHS a massive amount...

Oh no - not another one! #planning #nature #environment

In 2023, life expectancy for females in the UK was 82.9 years, lower than all other comparable countries. Veena Raleigh reviews the latest international data to assess how the UK’s health compares to other countries: https://bit.ly/47PQNSQ

I remember the bonfire nights of my youth - absolutely freezing As the warmest bonfire night on record hit the UK, the BBC managed to report it without mentioning climate change! www.bbc.com/weather/arti...

Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term www.gov.uk/government/p...

With some fabulous playwork, youth work, and school-based colleagues - and with local children - we’ve been working in Jarrow to shout about the value of play, so very very pleased to see “further investment focused on a new play strategy for children” in the developing plans of Jarrow Forward.

In 2012 I saw a similar ad, for a finance writer at The Economist. A few months later I got the job. It is not a pain-free application (you have to submit an original article) but I could only encourage you to have a punt.

In Paris, here in October, in the urban park on the banks of the Seine. It used to be a motorway, and now it is a public space for the enjoyment of inhabitants of all ages.

Breaking news: Councillors voted to approve redeveloping Lewisham Shopping Centre tonight amid angry scenes. We’ll have coverage of this on the website tomorrow.

Everyone should read this 🔻

Always a pleasure to visit #Manchester - but even more so now the #Bee integrated public #transport network is up-and-running. Easy-peasy to get around, even for tourists like me...

Wot no #UniversityChallenge tonight? 😳

A huge thank you to The Developer for this article on Make Space for Girls and helping raise awareness of the fact all donations to our charity are doubled this week: www.thedeveloper.live/opinion/make... #wgmf @biggive.bsky.social

🧵🚨 The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news. Today our report is published! www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n... 1/11

Well, that's one way of handling global ecosystem collapse Block publication of research that might raise awkward questions about whether UK govt is doing enough about it Can't see any flaws in that approach.... www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Up for helping with #SlowWays this weekend? This map shows 900 routes across Britain that need just one more good review to be verified🐌✅⭐️❤️ Could you check one... or even a trail of routes? And inspire others to follow in your footsteps? Take look: beta.slowways.org/user/waylist...

#Design is facing an existential crisis, as @edwinheathcote.bsky.social explains so eloquently. 🔻🔻 Design thinking could transform lives for the better (eg in #NHS systems; or wayfinding; or products for older people), but many designers' work just fuels excessive consumption... on.ft.com/46M9mXI

@theasrstein.bsky.social warns that other countries haven't made a shift from hospital to community without investment, and we don't have the infrastructure that is ready for that shift at the moment. It's a very difficult equation to make it work with current resources.

At this year's TCPA Annual Conference, we'll hear inspiring examples of community planning & nature recovery, learn what the Planning & Infrastructure Bill proposals mean in practice, & consider how local planning authorities should approach the next year. Tickets: www.tcpa.org.uk/event/tcpa-a...

Parks should be accessible & welcoming to all. Yet in Britain, women are 3x more likely than men to feel unsafe in a park during the day. We must create a community of active bystanders to make our parks safer & more inclusive, writes Dr Anna Barker on the launch of a new campaign. shorturl.at/kti7o

#theBeeAt3 Basic bee facts every day at 3pm. # 179 Bumblebees are aware of the size of their bodies relative to the environment around them. They know how big they are and can judge where they’ll fit! Knowing one’s body dimensions is a core aspect of self-awareness. #bees #nature #environment

Most areas in the UK were affected by heatwaves this summer, with some areas becoming unbearable. This is likely the future of our British summers ☀️🌡️ One way to make your street cooler is to add some trees. Sponsor a street tree today to make next summer easier 👉 sponsor.treesforstreets.org/start

#Planners in #Leeds doing a good job of mixing old and new buildings and patching together public spaces... But still a lot to do!

New Pod: The Grown Up Stuff! (Free) Wills & even more important Power Of Attorney. I'm joined by lawyers to talk peace of mind protection. Do listen. podcasts.APPLE.com/gb/podcast/t... open.SPOTIFY.com/show/6tsU1yc... www.BBC.co.uk/sounds/brand...

Community groups can now bid for a share of a £1 million pot of money from developers with the return of the council’s Greenwich Neighbourhood Growth Fund. greenwichwire.co.uk/2025/09/18/g...