bottom drawer

OK. It really is silly season, despite the plethora of what should be important news stories (bomb plots, wars, etc). Because the Tories have seized the moment to launch a Five-Point Plan on suburban back gardens. Yes, really, and it is Friday. Apparently, without King David to protect us, our back gardens will be taxed, or stolen from us to build 'pokey flats' on. And bless'em, they even want to help out the nation of DIY-lovers with this little tidbit: "Stop new taxes being levied on home improvements and gardens". Just in time for B&Q's summer sale. Labour's hit back hard. claiming that 'Tory policy would make it harder for people to...build extensions." So no tasteless conservatories under the Notting Hill Tories, then.

Kansas City has a great new idea to mix the need for sustainable urban drainage with citizen participation for minimal effort: 10,000 Rain Gardens . Basically, it aims to get residents to create 'rain gardens' that hold stormwater - as small as a few square metres - and help the massive problems of drainage that the city has. Easy - and made even easier by the website which has easy how-to guides on making one, equipment suppliers if you want to install a rainwater butt or buy native plants, and a list of professionals who can make one for you if you don't have the time: alongside workshops, festivals, and a picture gallery of completed projects. I bet the whole scheme costs nothing - the price of a few metres of municipal stormwater drain installation in a busy road. I'd like to see every city have a scheme like this.

A great post from my mate Lucy on planning post-Katrina and the farce of 'democracy' that it involves. Particularly good on the self-presentation skills of New Urbanist Andres Duany, who skilfully manages to seem like the good guy in comparison to all the rest, despite his backstory of designing pastiche developments exclusively for the white and rich. really worth reading for all interested in 'participation' - it is extreme, but weirdly not that far at all from what happens here in the name of 'community' involvement. Which brings me onto another good post from Kevin Harris which continues his musings about the real nature of the 'neighbourhood governance' that our government is so keen on. Otherwise, if I was to be more cynical than I'm allowed to be normally, known as 'poor people should get off their asses and help themselves'. Volunteering is a measure of good citizenship, especially if you are a single mother on a sink estate. "...

I like things to do with identity: at GPA we work on this theme a lot; even to the point of saying maybe it is the basis of our whole approach. therefore lovely to see the BBC's online survey of Britain's unsung landmarks, as nominated by readers. All the things that don't make it inot tourist brochures, that by some supposed measure of 'value' are 'ordinary', 'ugly' or 'boring' - yet which make us feel that a place is special. Cooling towers, pylons, and fantastic testimony from individuals: "I love the Runcorn chemical works. When I was a kid we often used to drive past it at night (on our way back from a holiday in Wales). I asked my father what it was - then decided I wanted to be a chemist so that I could work there. Twenty years later I have a degree in chemistry and am on my way to a PhD - all I need now is the job."

An interesting point has been raised in relation to the now-compulsory design and access statements for all planning applications. Brian Waters, joint editor of Planning in London, thinks that they will lead to even further 'dumbing-down' of planning staff within LAs. He reckons that planners are losing the skills to evaluate design quality through a tick-box approach that codifies 'good' quality rather than relying on good judgement. Its a really universal problem: on the one hand 'good judgement' for one person is another person's stupid personal opinion; on the other hand, quality isn't just about ticking certain boxes: it isn't a quantifiable thing. I have to admit that I thought the design statements were a good thing but clearly, as with all these statements (EIAs, anyone?) a clever person can write a convincing-sounding design statement for a poor scheme. Planners still need to exercise judgement, comparing the written statement with the actua...

Judith Armitt , current chief exec of Medway Council, has taken up the potentially poisoned chalice of becoming DCLG's Thames Gateway chief executive. She's meant to co-ordinate - well, pretty much everything in the nightmare of multiple agencies, crazy target-setting, floodplains and greenfields. Despite the six-figure salary I'm not sure how many people really wanted that job. Apparently she's one of CABE chief Richard Simmons' life mentors . Meanwhile, DCLG is set to reveal the results of its recent decision to actually strategise for the area. A discussion document is currently circulating and a draft strategy will be unveiled for broader consultation next month, including a delivery strategy (hooray!) and an economic development strategy (what? haven't they already had one?). And after three years of negotiations and public inquiry, DCLG has said that it will approve the massive development of Shellhaven, in Thurrock, as a deep water container port and bu...

Last week the CPRE (who really seem to be rarely out of the news these days) published yet another report in which 'experts' voiced 'fears' over the amount of housing not being built on brownfield land. It is pretty clever, taking stats from official public sources and using them to prove that many TG boroughs are failing to meet governmetn targets for density and brownfield development. But in so explicitly calling for 'density', they've found themselves up against an unlikely mix of major housebuilders and homelessness charities all calling for more family housing to address the real needs of the population. The fact is (as I always love to bore people with) if you measured density in habitable rooms rather than dwellings, this issue would immediately vanish as it would be remove the incentive for housebuilders to build one-bedroom flats. Adam Sampson, director of Shelter , said: "Maximising brownfield development and high density building are crucia...

News from the Lower Lea: Lorraine Baldry, the chair of the LTGDC, has been unveiled as also the chair of the new Olympic Planning Committee. The rest of the committee consists of a somewhat odd group of people - basically the portfolio holder councillors from the five boroughs, plus some other randoms (William Hodgson, a Hackney-based architect - anyone heard of him?!). Full list: David Taylor, co-founder of Silvertown Quays Limited, in the role of deputy chairman (an ODA board member as well as Baldry) Rofique Ahmed, councillor with Tower Hamlets Council Conor McAuley, councillor with Newham Council Geoff Taylor, councillor with Hackney Council Terry Wheeler, councillor with Waltham Forest Mike Appleton, director with regeneration company Cibitas Celia Carrington, deputy chief executive of Swindon Council William Hodgson, a Hackney-based architect Janice Morphet, visiting professor of Planning at the Bartlett Dru Vesty, board member of the LTGDC And the ODA and L&CR have announced...

Now the seaman from Hull is no longer at the helm at DCLG, it looks like the 'flagship' Northern Way programme is going to follow him into an unofficial retirement. Director of Implementation Vince Taylor has let on that he is working on the potential dismantlement of the programme after the end of this period of funding, in 2008. He also said that the Northern Way will not be receiveing any further funding after the spending review. Basically it looks like the northern RDA's will take the initiative in-house, i.e. killing it off but trying to retain some of its priorities about cross-regional working. The whole thing was launched just under two years ago as a "groundbreaking vision for economic renaissance" with £100m of funding. Hey ho, what has it achieved? From the annual report published this month: "The Northern Way has made significant progress since its inception. Highlights include: • Establishing the Northern Transport Compact to provide a unified ...