Ros Coward says ministers should prioritise brownfield development and pay attention to Save Kent’s Green Spaces, a day of action on SundayYour leader on urban rewilding schemes (19 November) correctly points out the ecological value of brownfield site…
Battle of Culloden is being fought anew … against an army of house developers
Site where Bonnie Prince Charlie led the Jacobite uprising of 1746 under threat from property developmentIt was the last pitched battle fought on British soil, and its outcome determined the future of the newly formed United Kingdom and its fledgling e…
Michael Gove to push homebuilding in the north of England
New levelling up secretary to refocus planning proposals in favour of less developed regionsMichael Gove will instruct his Levelling Up department to boost homebuilding in the north of England, after widespread concerns that previous proposals could se…
Historic synagogue wins first round of City planning battle
Permission for 48-storey skyscraper denied but application for second building yet to be consideredThe UK’s oldest synagogue, a 320-year-old building in the City of London, has won the first stage of its battle to stave off an existential threat from p…
Greenwich Design District review – a lesson in how to make somewhere out of nowhere
Eight architects, 16 new buildings and one masterplan have converged in the shadow of London’s O2 to conjure up a neighbourhood for creative types that’s full of energy and charmThere once was an area in Singapore – Bugis – which, its trans nightlife b…
The problem with England’s right-to-build laws | Letters
Readers respond to a piece by George Monbiot and call for concerted action at a local levelBravo, George Monbiot (England’s right-to-build laws are tokenistic and feeble – just ask the people of Totnes, 15 September). The warm words in the National Pla…
Ministers ‘to ditch overhaul of planning laws’ after criticism
According to reports, plans will be abandoned in light of backlash from southern voters and MPsThe government is reportedly backpedalling on its commitment to overhaul planning laws in order to accelerate infrastructure projects with a target of buildi…
London golf courses could provide homes for 300,000 people, study says
Courses on public land could be used ‘in a more creative way’ to ease housing crisis and provide accessible green spaceLondon’s golf courses make up an area larger than the borough of Brent and there is enough space on publicly owned courses to house 3…
Build on the past for a net zero future | Letters
Sue Miller and Sean Tompkins on the importance of retrofitting and reuse of materials in construction in order to reduce the UK’s carbon emissionsYour article on the importance of retrofit and reuse of buildings over new-build is most timely (Editorial…
English cities could be given national park status under new proposals
Government body Natural England is considering move in response to Glover report on protected landscapesCities in England could be granted national park status – affording urban areas the same level of environmental protection as natural landscapes – a…