Norfolk ‘Stuff’

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Matt Wood

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 my Norfolk vernacular/character tour for a client last summer, and used it as a summary-image for a section on traditional building materials. Continue reading →

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Er…Sorry; So it is a Nimby Charter!

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Matt Wood

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 Joint Core Strategy had passed its Examination in Public, clearing the way for the three participating District Councils to press ahead with their massively delayed Local Development Frameworks. In this buoyant mood, the room remained quizzical at worst about the next upheaval heading towards the property industry – in the form of the Localism Bill. Continue reading →

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Spring Has Sprung!

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Matt Wood

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?

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Matt Wood

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 overseas labour to beat their UK rivals on fee-bidding for work. Mid-sized London based architectural practices will feel this squeeze worst of all, and even award-winning ‘starchitects’ will struggle as global design-brands move into designing buildings and interiors. Good news then for international multi-disciplinary mega-practices, but also for the traditional small practices which make up the bulk of the profession away from London. According to the report: Continue reading →

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‘Facilitators’, not ‘Organisers’…

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Matt Wood

…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 guy/gal long term if he/she is any good Continue reading →

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Who Pays the Piper? And for How Long?

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Matt Wood

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 trialled. The money will be used to identify and train a cohort of up to 500 ‘Senior Organisers’ across the country, each receiving a bursary of £20,000 in their first year. A further 4,500 voluntary organisers will also receive training. According to the Cabinet Office press release: Continue reading →

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More on Community-Run Shops

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Matt Wood

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 – in earlier posts (here and here), and though it now seems a little tangential to what I’ve been writing about through Ruralise, I found the synopsis rather interesting: Continue reading →

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Here’s one we prepared earlier…

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Matt Wood

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. Continue reading →

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More thoughts on the Localism Bill…

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Matt Wood

…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

#EDPBigSoc I’m politically neutral and open-minded. I think there might be something in the #CRTB (see http://ruralise.co.uk), but…

 #EDPBigSoc …I can’t see that Neighbourhood Planning adds enough local control to make it worth the hassle, and…

#EDPBigSoc …I find it hard to believe that many people harbour a secret desire to run a sports centre or library on a voluntary basis!

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What’s changed?

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Matt Wood

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: Continue reading →

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