Tag Archives: planning

Forest Village #10: A Crowded Island?

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Matt Wood

Before spending any serious time (and money) on constructing a financial and management model for a new Forest Village, we wanted to get an idea of the likely availability of suitable land. We had developed the following description of an … Continue reading →

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Forest Village #5: Sustainable Development?

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Matt Wood

As a model for the development of a new settlement, Center Parcs offers a really powerful proposition. Most green-field development replaces green-space with houses. In a Center Parcs they depend on each other. The forest is regarded as an asset … Continue reading →

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Self-Building Bridges

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Matt Wood

In a previous post I suggested that mainstream commercial developers and the major house-builders regard selling development land as serviced self-build plots as nothing more than a lot of hassle and a lost profit margin – and that the new … Continue reading →

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A Tale of Two Competitions #2 – Lawrenny, Pembrokshire

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Matt Wood

The second of the two competitions I wanted to mention was also run with help from the RIBA Competitions Service, and followed a year or so after the Elmswell competition (see previous post). Like Elmswell, the competition to extend the … 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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Tesco Self-Build?

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Matt Wood

A piece on one of BD Online’s blog today was stressing about the prospect of Tesco getting involved in the UK self-build market, and idea which Housing Minister Grant Shapps has been toying with this week according to Building Design … Continue reading →

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Community Right to Build: It’s All Gone a Bit Quiet.

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Matt Wood

If you’ve been keeping an eye on the Community Right to Build (CRTB) initiative, you might be forgiven for thinking it’s gone a bit quiet recently. This is partly true; the initial flurry of interest in the press following the … 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 … Continue reading →

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So it’s not really a ‘Nimby Charter’ after all…

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Matt Wood

Last week the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) published an ‘Impact Asessment’ on Neighbourhood Plans and the Community Right to Build. The document is a normal part of the legislative process, and seeks to quantify the likely impact … Continue reading →

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Contemporary ‘Farmsteads’ #2

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Matt Wood

Before I signed off at the end of the year I was talking about contemporary ‘farmsteads’ – one of my four rural archetypes. I had it in mind to talk about how a dense grouping of dwellings laid out around … Continue reading →

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