An informal coalition of organisations and individuals interested in promoting the Smart Growth approach in the UK.
Joined May 2015
- Tweets31.9K
- Following986
- Followers1.6K
- Likes12.6K
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
Very good point - what a waste
Historic England (government department) published this report in 2025 about how 670,000 homes could be delivered reusing existing buildings. It’s been ignored. historicengland.org.uk/resea… #dontwastebuildings
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
Our next Webinar is with @ryebankfields on Monday 9th November at 12.30-1.45pm.
We'll hear how Ryebank Fields campaigners held back development with an alternative plan for a community woodland.
Link on our Events page:
communityplanningalliance.or…
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
'Buy your own' patch could be the way forward for residents across Britain to protect land from developers, aided by technology. An innovative model for funding and community participation.
thetimes.com/article/909a6fc…
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
Pst re: M4 Relief Rd....No, instead we need to direct £3-4Bn at these schemes in the next 10-15 years and lots more "TOD" (inc putting things like ONS and Patent Office in Newport City Centre! Doh!)
cardiffmetro.wales/15-the-pr…
Whitehall, driven by @hmtreasury, has left the local plans system no longer fit for purpose.
Perhaps @mtpennycook could rediscover the planning principles he advocated in opposition?
The planning minister Matthew Pennycook has pushed back by three months the end-of-year examination submission deadline for councils with draft local plans prepared under the current system if they reach the second formal consultation stage by 31 December.
planningresource.co.uk/artic…
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
It is vital @NorfolkCC considers non-road alternatives to the Norwich Western Link. A new road in the Wensum Valley would increase toxic runoff into the Wensum, one of the main sources of pollution.
edp24.co.uk/news/26652749.ri…
@StopWensumLink
The onward march of AI data centres.
"Essential to economic growth".
Allegedly.
Google illegally cleared an estimated 250,000 trees across 330 hectares of forest in Muhos, northern Finland, to prepare for a new AI data center before completing mandatory environmental impact assessments
And another 150,000 trees felled at Otanmäki
theguardian.com/environment/…
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
A few tins of peaches and some water… won’t make any difference ! What this government should be doing is protecting our good farmland for food production should an emergency arise..
🚨 The Government has been accused of 'scaremongering' after warning British households to stockpile food, water and cash amid growing fears of cyber attacks and disruption to food supplies.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting defended the advice, saying people should be 'alert but not alarmed' as the UK faces increasing threats from hostile states and extreme weather.
🗣️ "Those are the sorts of everyday challenges and threats we could well face, and it is right we ask the country to be ready..."
The warnings come amid wider concerns over Britain's food security, with MPs hearing calls for greater protection of domestic food production.
READ MORE: ow.ly/7wl85100pHJ
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
Forest City: one year of hot air 🎈
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
This is environmental madness - Bristol says NO!
Bristol Airport expansion plans:
- 15m passengers a year
- c.5,000 night flights 11.30pm-6am
- lighting on Felton Common
- extra 1,960 parked vehicle spaces
- staff car park for c.1,720 vehicles
bristolpost.co.uk/news/brist…
🤔 Net zero by 2030?
Application: n-somerset.gov.uk/my-service…
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
In connection to coming climate breakdown I have been warning of the need for this for years
But it will take a lot more than offering advice on personal actions
We will need to be on a government-led 'war' footing to even begin to tackle what's coming
theguardian.com/politics/202…
Today's reminder to protect and enhance local democracy.
A fourth local authority has rejected updating its constitution to align with the government’s impending national scheme of delegation, which limits the ability of elected members to make planning decisions.
planningresource.co.uk/artic…
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
We have a surplus of homes….Not this crazy 6.9m shortage.
Also, the planning system is not holding up housebuilding. Firstly, there are issues in the market and secondly, Government won’t fund all the social housing required.
As @CPSThinkTank has calculated, we are 6.9 million houses short of the European average. And the shortage is greatest in and around our cities. London is on course to build just a quarter of its housing target this year, with no development at all in four of its boroughs.
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
It might not seem “valuable” to you but it is countryside, it grows food, it houses wildlife, it houses country dwellers. So quite apart from the fact that there isn’t the shortage you claim, focus on the brownfield land please.
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
Just back in Wales... Some M4 political jibber jabber I hear! Truth bomb...had WG progressed with the M4 Relief rd it could not have progressed with the south Wales Metro or/& the completion of the HoV rd. I know what I prefer...oh & can we all start to engage with the evidence.
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
We have revealed that public access to the Midlands National Forest is collapsing, having been established since the early 1990s with public funding. (1/3)
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
Let’s build 4.6m homes, mostly in the countryside (and many in Green Belt countryside) and pretend it does not harm the countryside.
That’s quite some claim, even for you @CentreforCities!
@CommunityPlann1
thetimes.com/uk/politics/art…
SmartGrowthUK retweeted
When hearing National Highways talk about the Lower Thames Crossing, you could be forgiven for thinking they are proposing a new national park rather than a Smart Motorway!
Our latest blog post takes a look at the reality behind the ‘greenest road ever’
transportactionnetwork.org.u…
Is there a chance that the current depradation of planning's ability to protect our environment - EDPs, #greybelts, deranged house building targets, etc., etc. - represents the flood tide of this insanity?
It's not as if it's getting more homes built.
tinyurl.com/bdfxywnw
