Tag Archives: local services

Forest Village #6: The Village Centre

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Matt Wood

What would one have to do to Center Parcs Elveden to turn it into a ‘real’ village? Well for the purposes of this thought-experiment the aim would be to change as little as possible, preserving the essential quality which could … 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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What’s in a Name?

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Matt Wood

I was talking today with a potential client of Lucas Hickman Smith, who leads a community group which (if all goes according to plan) will commission us to help them replace their worn-out village hall with a new community facility, … 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 … Continue reading →

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The Heart of a Village

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Matt Wood

The British Beer and Pub Association reports (here) that 900 pubs closed in the last year. The village pub, school and shop/Post office between them form, if you will, a Holy Trinity of ‘village life’*. Both the Telegraph and Daily … Continue reading →

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…And the Case Against!

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Matt Wood

Well, I have to declare an interest: I’m not a ‘normal person’ either! I’m an architect with a good working knowledge of the planning system and sustainable design, so my reference to planners in the last post was a bit … Continue reading →

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The Case for CRTB

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Matt Wood

So why is the Community Right to Build a good idea, at least in principle? Well, generally speaking the only way to add development to villages under the present planning system is under a Rural Exception Policy, a clause in the prevailing … Continue reading →

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