Author Archives: Matt Wood

Norfolk ‘Stuff’

Well, that’s enough policy-wonking for now. I said my ‘thatch-fest’ a couple of weeks ago could be a segue into some stuff on ‘stuff’– or ‘what we make buildings out of’. I took this picture (below) while I was researching … Continue reading

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Er…Sorry; So it is a Nimby Charter!

I went to a very well attended breakfast seminar on the Localism Bill hosted by solicitors Howes Percival last week. The pre-seminar buzz amongst the impressively grey-suited property crowd was the previous day’s news that the Greater Norwich Development Partnership … Continue reading

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Spring Has Sprung!

There was a real tingle of spring in the air today in south-Norfolk. If you’re a regular visitor, you’ll appreciate the change of header-image. Goodbye snow-laced Wicklewood; hello sunny Wymondham…

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The Future for Architects?

A provocative report from the RIBA’s think-tank ‘Building Futures’ continued to generate comment in the architectural press last week. The report predicts that the building-design industry will become increasingly globalised, with a smaller number of very large multi-national studios using … Continue reading

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‘Facilitators’, not ‘Organisers’…

…suggests Alan Spedding, commenting on my last post, and via Twitter: @ruralise: have responded on the blog – not organisers – facilitators helping the community to get what it needs…and for how long?” perhaps the community will pay for the … Continue reading

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Who Pays the Piper? And for How Long?

The Rural Services Network (RSN) reports that the Government has found some cash to fund an ‘Institute of Community Organising’ to push forward its Big Society agenda – and Norfolk will be one of ten counties where the plan is … Continue reading

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More on Community-Run Shops

Twitter brought me to a piece by Alan Spedding (@RuSource) about community-run shops. I think it’s Alan’s summary of a longer report by the Plunkett Foundation. I did talk a bit about shops – and the Plunkett Foundation in fact … Continue reading

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Here’s one we prepared earlier…

Talking of larders, as we were, I was pointed at this scheme we did at Lucas Hickman Smith a few years ago for a sustainability enthusiast down near Halesworth.

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More thoughts on the Localism Bill…

…in four Tweets, as requested by the Jon Welch at the Eastern Daily Press this week (#EDPBigSoc): #EDPBigSoc It’s not ‘Cameron’s BigSoc’; its always been there, and the public money which volunteer time ‘levers in’ is going to be scarce … Continue reading

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What’s changed?

The opening paragraph of Rob Annable’s post on BD’s Housing blog (see last post) reminded me of one of my all-time favourite architectural quotes – from late-modernist ‘Dutch master’ Aldo van Eyck:

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