Category Archives: Development/Land-Use

How to CRTB #4 – A Worked Example

Posted on November 7, 2010 by Matt Wood

Following the discussion about Community Right to Build (CRTB) over the past weeks and months, it strikes me that it is still focused firmly on affordable housing. As I have suggested previously, the CRTB may make a modest contribution to … Continue reading →

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How to CRTB #3 – Watch This Space

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Matt Wood

If you’re interested in the ‘mechanics’ of a Community Right to Build project, rather than the more design-related themes I’ve been focussing on lately, do keep an eye on Ruralise for the next week or so*. I’m doing a ‘worked … Continue reading →

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Home on the Farm: Concreting the Countryside?

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Matt Wood

The ‘Home on the Farm’ initiative, mentioned in my last post, is a proposal to allow farmers to convert redundant buildings on their property into dwellings. In their coverage of the subject, news website ‘This is Somerset’ says the Campaign for … Continue reading →

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CRTB: How Many Homes?

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Matt Wood

As I said in a previous post, the ‘sustainablility’ logic behind the planners’ preference for large-scale development, centred on a limited number of highly serviced, highly accessible centres, is lost on most ‘normal’ people. It seems only common sense to … Continue reading →

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How to CRTB #2 – Creating Value

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Matt Wood

I said in a previous post it was ironic that the Coalition spending-cuts have hit a programme aimed at supporting community run pubs. It isn’t ironic, of course – in fact it’s ideologically consistent with the whole thrust of the … Continue reading →

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Is it a shub? Is it a pop? No, it’s…

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Matt Wood

…well, it’s a pub with a village shop in it, so it’s probably a ‘pop’…like this one in Somerset, or this one in Tacolneston, not far from where I live in Norfolk. OK; the second one’s actually a beer shop…but … Continue reading →

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The Heart of a Village

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Matt Wood

The British Beer and Pub Association reports (here) that 900 pubs closed in the last year. The village pub, school and shop/Post office between them form, if you will, a Holy Trinity of ‘village life’*. Both the Telegraph and Daily … Continue reading →

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How to CRTB #1 – Building a Consensus

Posted on September 23, 2010 by Matt Wood

Yesterday’s announcement from the Department for Communities and Local Government lowered the required majority of support for a Community Right to Build project from 90% to 75%. This is surely a move in the right direction for those keen to … Continue reading →

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