It’s encouraging that the need for urgent action on the climate emergency is finally being being widely accepted by politicians, business and the wider public. The message must be relentlessly proclaimed throughout the 2020s. Until recently so many opportunities have been squandered, so many experts ignored. One is the former government chief scientist Sir David King. I remember an… Continue reading
BBC Radio 4’s Start the week (Monday January 6) took the starting-the-New-Year theme of rebuilding, and featured as one of its subjects an innovative prize-winning council housing project in Norwich. But how innovative? David Mikhail, whose architectural practice won last year’s Stirling Prize for this scheme, told presenter Andrew Marr what they had created there,… Continue reading
Could the purposed Expressway be the next big road battle in the UK? And is it winnable? Until last month (June 2019), few opponents would have held out much hope of resisting the combined forces of the Highways Agency, which first advanced the £1.5 bn project, and the Westminster government, which almost without fail wins… Continue reading
The Welsh Government will not proceed with the £1.4bn M4 relief road around Newport. First Minister Mark Drakeford axed the scheme today (June 4), citing cost and environmental impact. This is a significant, and rare, rejection of a road scheme, which was widely supported by the CBI and many local politicians. Plans to build a… Continue reading
UK “energy and data from footsteps” firm Pavegen has launched (May 28th, 2019) a crowdfunding campaign to raise the additional £5m it needs to expand production of its revolutionary V3 energy generating tile, and make it at a lower unit cost. Pavegen, founded by Laurence Kemball-Cook, the company’s CEO, in 2009, came up with the… Continue reading
Ashridge, the National Trust estate on the Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire border, is one of the top places in the UK to see bluebells, according to surveys. In 2016 it decided to charge visitors to see the bluebells at some of the best locations on the 5000 acre estate. Is putting a price on our ‘national… Continue reading