Hurrah! We all agree. Do you remember Pete Seeger singing Ticky Tacky little boxes, all the same in 1963? Worth the two minutes of time. After 60 years of beautiful warning, or 30 years blunt warning someone is listening. Well done Levelling-up Secretary Simon Clarke. This is progress. 2084 looks like a realistic guess. Thank you too, George Orwell.
Absolute right. We do not want little boxes, in the countryside. Instead we want medium density, no cars, snug, appealing Tuscan communities master planned by our own the experts in added value, the landed estates of England. Look at the work of the Crown Estate creating places with appeal. Let’s not get bogged down with who does, and who does not like pastiche. First things first. Where do the new communities go? Design comes second.
Get this footstep right, and it is an environmental and money making opportunity for local areas. And a productivity and growth boost to the national economy. Wrong, and it is the opposite.
Ian Campbell
4 October 2022
