Category: Landscape Architect
End of Year Blog 2018
As the end of year looms and we head for the annual office Christmas party we can reflect on a particularly busy year – somewhat surprising given the looming of Brexit and its accompanying uncertainties!
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Shared Surfaces Update
Shared surfaces are streets designed to reduce the dominance of motor vehicles by encouraging drivers to be more aware of pedestrians and travel at lower speeds. Often this is achieved through the omission of kerbs which demark the separation between the pedestrian and vehicular routes through a change of level, along with painted lines, railings and signs which also demark routes. The resulting uncertainty in the minds of drivers is said to force them into a heightened level of alertness and into taking more care, chiefly through lowering their speeds. The Department for Transport (DfT) published guidance for the design of shared spaces in 2011 (Local Transport Note 1/11).… Read the rest
The Future of Forestry and Our Chance to Restructure
One of the opportunities arising from Brexit is the chance to look at and restructure our entire land-based system; most notably, leaving the Common Agricultural Policy will enable us to re-evaluate how and where our investments are made.… Read the rest
Guest blog: Troy Planning + Design’s Senior Planner, Luke Smith, considers the implications of the revised NPPF on the provision of rural housing
Since 2012, planners and developers have been guided by Paragraph 55 of the NPPF in assessing the provision of isolated homes in rural areas. The first NPPF amounted to a considerable ideological shift from the previous Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) notes and Planning Policy Statements (PPS), particularly in defining a clear set of criteria under which rural housing could be justified.… Read the rest
Public space and the fate of the high street … by Davon Bree
A recent trip to Fareham, Hampshire, had me thinking about how public spaces and shop fronts engage. It was my first visit to Fareham and I have to say I was quite impressed with the variety and number of shops on the high street – far better than I’d expected.
… Read the restA Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment – a summary
Here we are in high summer and nearly 6 months have passed since the government launched this highly significant plan. A bit later than intended, but here is a brief summary of the key bits likely to be of most relevance to the landscape industry.
… Read the restVilnius calling (by Martin)
I’ve just returned from a few days visiting our colleagues at terra firma LT. I don’t quite know what I was expecting Lithuania to be like, but what I found was something of a surprise.… Read the rest
Tranquillity – by Isla Denton-Thompson
Yesterday the sun shone for a moment and I popped out at lunchtime to a town park near our office to enjoy some vitamin D, the absence of a computer screen, a bit of peace and quiet and enjoy the views to the surrounding National Park.… Read the rest
All shades of green by Keith Baker
A Facebook post about a former house-mate of mine who now teaches at the Stockholm Resilience Centre (http://www.stockholmresilience.org) got me thinking about their area of interest, namely the complex challenges facing humanity and their belief that;
In our globalized society, there are virtually no ecosystems that are not shaped by humans and no humans without the need for ecosystems and the services they provide.… Read the rest
Northward bound
A recent work visit has taken me to Scotland, where twice a year I visit the National Air Traffic Control Centre at Prestwick to see how the landscape management at one of the longest running projects in the terra firma portfolio is progressing nearly 13 years after completion.… Read the rest