I'm too inactive here, but just to say I have an exhibition opening this weekend, plus events etc coming up... If you are in an Essex direction pls come by! firstsite.uk/event/into-t...

I was told about a year ago by the teenagers in our family, and their friends, that this would be an absolute gamechanger in their lives (and vote winner). I really hope they do it. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Based on recent conversations, the BMA are very wrong to strike. They have totally lost the sympathy of the communities they are meant to be serving. Everyone has had wage stagnation. Everyone is struggling. I hope they realise they are about to seriously damage the respect and trust they need.

This is data about what teachers think about their own AI use. What their students think may differ. Y'day had a teenager tell me how dismayed they were that their teacher used AI to write their college report. Others have told me they dislike it when their teachers use AI in class or for homework.

Also, and of relevance to architects when we talk about the circular economy and design of our structures and how certain things are endlessly recyclable: 80% of scrap aluminium stays in the UK and is recycled here; but only 20-30% of other scrap metal eg zinc, copper.

Been reading up, belatedly, on the steel thing. Interesting stuff I learnt: blast furnaces do not help secure a domestic steel supply as the inputs (ore) are totally imported. Arc furnaces (which is what govt was offering to co-fund at Scunthorpe) use UK produced feedstock of scrap steel

This is great news, but just get on and call it an Ecology GCSE already. I've been trying to persuade our teenagers and their friends that a career in ecology is absolutely where it's at for this century, little success so far .. 🤷 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

This @theguardian.com piece has so many parallels to our work in Jaywick Sands around community flood risk and resilience. Same responses from locals who are trying to survive day to day and can't think long-term. This is real in the UK and not just abroad. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

This shows how poor communication is by LPAs and orgs like the EA, to explain what basic things like flood risk zones even mean. And even news outlets like @theguardian.com cover this stuff so poorly, not explaining it properly either, sowing more worries. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I have a rant in public. TLDR is why have reams of nice sounding design policies and aspirational manuals if you ignore them and deliver total s*** like this for our public infrastructure. How to expect communities to have pride in themselves if you can't be arsed to give them stuff to be proud of.

Things that young voters outside London care about which probably have not even hit the policy-makers radar...[sample size of our kids' friend groups] - the rise in the bus fare cap from £2 to £3 is very unpopular indeed.

Super interesting article for #infrastructure #flooddefence ppl. Normally it is communities asking for defences, not the other way round. But infrastructure is means to an end: if there's not a holistic plan to help the place behind the barrier thrive, why defend it? www.bbc.com/news/article...

One of the easiest and most impactful improvements that can be made to virtually every new-build development is to connect into the footpath network. On the other side of this fence are two cul-de-sacs which could easily lead into this path. Active lifestyles and enjoying beautiful countryside... 🤷

We should pay attention, and applaud, #DeepSeek because it is vastly more efficient in terms of energy and water use. The resource consumption of datacentres and AI is frightening. Any technical breakthroughs that help on that front have to be quickly adopted across the whole sector, surely?

Listened to this super interesting interview with Daisy Christodoulou about VAR and the psychology of rule-making, the tradeoffs involved (and many other things) yesterday... open.spotify.com/episode/5Shq... and now this news www.theguardian.com/football/202...

I showed this analysis for my talk for the @c20society.bsky.social a few months ago but with so much discussion about planning resourcing in the last week, I thought I might stir the pot and post it here.

Submitted a pre app for a written response on 30 April 2024. 4 new-build rural homes on a brownfield site. Got the written response today. 8 months and 8 days later. I am a planner, I deeply like and respect planners within the public sector, but this is why the system needs major reform.

Not a good morning to turn on R4 in the car. So sickened by the weasel worded politicking by Jenrick - an object lesson in cynical dog-whistle language.

This. Having just finished reading @edconway.bsky.social 's Material Worlds, which has a lot of fascinating things to say about China and battery manufacturing and copper and lots else...this just feels so frustrating.

@municipaldreams.bsky.social nice to sort of meet you at the Colin Ward talk at Brick Lane the other day. Going to Long Melford today and Pevsner mentions Anglian prefabs there but street name is wrong and Google maps /ukmoho not enlightening...do you happen to know anything?

Got distracted this evening and made a map of all the projects we've done at HAT. Only ones with real clients actually commissioning us. Not all built out or delivered (the completed ones are in blue). I guess we're regional 🤔 but there's a lot to be said about really knowing your patch.

Be interesting to pull the FRA from the planning application file and see what it said the predicted flood risk was.

On planning committee and the role of local politicians in planning...I wrote two blogs about this a couple of years ago. virtualhana.blogspot.com/2022/05/poli... and virtualhana.blogspot.com/2022/04/one-...

One benefit of living where I do, is that my community - friends, kids friends, teachers, shop assistants, hairdresser - includes a lot of people who live in new-build houses. The huge majority of whom - despite whether I personally like their design - are really happy in them. 🧵

Just finished pouring through spreadsheets to find a rogue mathematical error...and all for my unpaid voluntary role! #givingback in spades I think...

The productivity 'puzzle' in the country is not such a puzzle to me, and I suspect, anyone in our sector who is over 40. How 'sticky' every process has become, the lost skill of making a judgement call so things can progress, has serious real world consequences: stuff is not getting built.

Felixstowe...where a kerbless landscape scheme was installed in a busy high street and no-one made a fuss and look it works really well for everyone. I mean it's not the most 'beautiful' in terms of materials but it really WORKS.

Great pack (and not just because I'm on it 😉)

I'm aware that a lot of people here probably aren't that aware of what I do and what I'm interested in...so I thought I'd start a thread, of a post a day, linking to some stuff in my back catalogue that may be of interest or relevance. First, a short intro...

I like these! More mini personal lists pls.

Housebuilding is about addressing the housing affordability and supply crisis, growth benefits are an added bonus (construction jobs). It is not being suggested as a solution to our productivity crisis.

I did not know tomatoes were a Xinjiang forced labour product. When you can't trust the label on the food, only option is to buy direct from the farmer, we are lucky to be able to do this relatively easily here for 90% of our veg thanks to a local CSA, but impossible for most people.

We've now had an EV for a couple of months and done 1500 miles in it. Total converts. Several friends are the same, have gone electric in the last year (mainly on lease, like us) and super happy with the switch. Yet all the analysts are saying there isn't the market for them. Which is true?

Like so many architects of my generation, my early years in the sector were defined by Smithfield. Leaving the office late, crossing over with the arrival of meat trucks in the early hours. Stumbling out of clubs into the smell of blood and the shouts of porters.

I found this article super interesting from a UK pov. I've heard similar arguments from housing officers (yes really) defending 11m2 studios in HMOs and PD conversions as an important part of the housing mix.

I'm going to say, clear national design standards and approved details for street design that override all local highways authorities, would save a huge amount of time and resource. I.e. Manual for Streets 3 released, with added technical detail, and made mandatory.

Yes...thank you Caitlin!!

Sudden surge of friendly faces over here...lovely 😍. Will try to be more active with planning and housing and design chat and most likely also the odd rant, although in my middle age I'm trying to wean myself off that. Feel out of practice at the short form comment!

Gonna be in Manchester this weekend...seeing the Laurie Anderson show with one of my besties, but any recommendations for new stuff (buildings? spaces? art? weird nice stuff?) I should visit, pls LMK...haven't spent time there since Covid so feeling behind the times!

This is happening on Thursday. Come and ask me all the hard questions about how housing should be shaped.

Re-reading the Raynsford review on the planning system, for a talk I'm doing. What a good piece of work developed through quality research and independence of thinking. And so clearly articulated. #sigh

Great report and recommendations. We need community engagement to be deep, deliberative and most importantly, inclusive of all parts of the community.

This podcast has been an immense achievement, and labour of love, by @samuelstafford.bsky.social. It has brought together the planning community in a time when it has been fragmented and under strain, it has influenced the agenda, educated and delighted. Very sad this era is coming to an end.

In case anyone needed another take.

Good piece, all true. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A surefire sign of ageing is writing letters to the editor, then grumbling to oneself about the headline they gave it 🤣 but thanks to @financialtimes.com for giving me lead letter spot with a bit of a rant about SuDS and highways authorities.... on.ft.com/3zFxbDV

I really love it when planners ask for detailed info on heat pumps/solar that if we weren't making an application for other things would be permitted development anyway. Seems like a really valuable use of everyone's time. Not.

🤐

One of the positive outcomes from the govt's proposals re land values, is a lot of blogs/articles being published to rebut it, that are unpacking the actual costs / returns of development in more accessible, public formats. This is a good example of breaking open the black box around viability.

Place based budgeting is much needed. Will be hard to deliver within authorities where leadership has hardened into silos and competition rather than collaboration. Requires a mindset shift and probably empowering a new generation of people with a different culture and ethos.