: A fine blog indeed! I was tempted to scribble EP woz ere but I it would lower the standard.
Pete Smith @ August 8, 2008 # One Comment
An online simulation game has been launched to help families understand the risk of flooding, and the policy decisions needed to make sure the UK is protected against floods.
Floodsim.com, developed by London-based computer game company PlayGen, puts the player in charge of all flood policy decisions.
In the game, floods hit the UK each year, and [...]
Pete Smith @ July 19, 2008 # No Comment Yet
The East of England Regional Assembly has voiced concern over proposals for four eco-towns in the region, involving nearly 50,000 new houses. The body is worried that the planning system will be bypassed and that the schemes themselves are unsustainable.
Responding to the eco-towns public consultation, the Assembly raised concerns that the new homes are not [...]
Pete Smith @ April 6, 2008 # No Comment Yet
Flicking through the proposal document for the Middle Hinton eco-town near Long Marston in Warwickshire, I was struck by how familiar some of the images and wording seemed. Pictures of photogenic people relaxing in traffic-free squares, smiling families frolicking hand in hand through dappled sunlight, and serried ranks of pushbikes just waiting for someone to [...]
Pete Smith @ April 3, 2008 # 4 Comments
Here are the official details of the shortlisted sites, from the Department for Communities and Local Government web site:
- Pennbury, Leicestershire: 12-15,000 homes on a development incorporating brownfield, greenfield and surplus public sector land. Four miles south east of Leicester. This proposal could include 4,000 new affordable houses in an area of high affordability pressure.
[...]
Pete Smith @ April 3, 2008 # 23 Comments
The government has finally released its list of 15 eco-town sites into the wild. It’s good to see that some of the more cynical proposals have been weeded out. Micheldever in Hampshire, for example, was a many-times recycled application for development on greenfield land, and it is to be hoped this is the last time [...]
Pete Smith @ March 10, 2008 # 5 Comments
We wait with bated breath for the UK government to publish its shortlist of proposed eco-town sites in April. Around fifty projects have been put forward, but the government has refused to release information on the bids or locations on grounds of bidder confidentiality. Information is leaking out from somewhere, however, and there are growing [...]
Pete Smith @ February 26, 2008 # 3 Comments
The UK Government will shortly publish its short list of eco-town schemes for consultation, following a cross-Government review. The original plan was for a programme of five eco-towns to be implemented across the English regions. However, interest has been so high (over sixty proposals have been registered with the government) that the Prime Minister announced [...]
Pete Smith @ November 30, 2007 # No Comment Yet
A North Wales house builder has spent £140,000 on creating a special habitat for great crested newts on the site of a 26-home development. When environmental specialists arrived to move the newts to their new home, they could find only two. The same builder has already spent £300,000 at another development where a much larger [...]
Pete Smith @ September 3, 2007 # 4 Comments
The Landmatters Co-op, an eco-settlement in South Devon, has won its appeal against an enforcement notice served by the local district council after retrospective planning permission had been refused.
Members of the co-op moved to the 42 acre site near Allaleigh, ten miles from Totnes, two years ago. The community of ten adults and three children [...]