Tag Archives: land-use

Forest Village #3: The Concept

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Matt Wood

When the Forest Village concept was set out on paper, the accepted ideal minimum size for a new settlement or urban extension was around 2,000-3,000 homes – large enough to sustain a useful hub of local services, including a primary … Continue reading →

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Forest Village #2: Houses and Trees

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Matt Wood

I will explain the real origin of Forest Village later, but I was prompted to write it down after reading another think-piece about houses and trees, by Mischa Balen, then of the Adam Smith Institute. The article ran in Planning … Continue reading →

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Forest Village #1: Background

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Matt Wood

The publication of the final report of the Independent Panel on Forestry earlier this year reminded me of a ‘think-piece’ about building in forests which I wrote way back in 2007, when I was a director at Conran&Partners. ‘Forest Village’ … Continue reading →

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On the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Matt Wood

Earlier this week I was asked by a journalist from Building Design ‘what does the NPPF mean for architects?’ This caught me on the hop, despite the fact that I’ve been meaning to write something on the NPPF for some … Continue reading →

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Rural Sustainability #2

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Matt Wood

My Twitter ‘drag-net’ continues to throw up interesting nuggets that wouldn’t have come my way otherwise. This piece by Jamie Shorten in Town and Country Planning magazine, from 2007, addresses some themes which I touched on briefly all the way … Continue reading →

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What’s this village doing here?

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Matt Wood

A rare sortie abroad in the last couple of weeks has reminded me that despite the great cost of holidaying overseas (in cash and carbon), it does give one the opportunity to see new things and have time to think … Continue reading →

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How to CRTB # 5 – Two Farmers and a Wedding.

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Matt Wood

I was at a wedding in Suffolk this weekend, and had interesting conversations with two farmers. After dissecting the impact that the Russian harvest was having on domestic grain prices, and the merits and demerits of forward-selling commodities, I raised … Continue reading →

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What Would You Do With Half a Million Quid?

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Matt Wood

In my worked example I imagined a Community Right to Build project of ten houses for sale, generating a pot of money for the CRTB ‘good cause’ of around half million quid. What does that buy?

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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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