Articles

Local Government and the Democratic Mandate: An Outdated Model?

September 26, 2012

Local government could never be described as fashionable, yet today there is more talk than ever about the importance of ‘the local’. However, this has converted into less, rather than more, freedom to act locally. Whitehall’s desire to control is strong, as the current freeze on council tax rises demonstrates. Local government hasn’t suffered as […]

My very own floating garden

September 26, 2012

The last few weeks have really brought home to me the vulnerability of subsistence farmers across the world to unpredictable weather. I have had an allotment for thirty years and it is a very useful supplement to family food supplies with plenty of fresh fruit and veg in season. But of course I don’t rely […]

Town Planning an Olympic sport?

September 20, 2012

Like nearly everybody else I know, I have watched more of the Olympics on TV thanĀ I expected to. I found it gripping, moving, inspiring, uplifting and a little bit escapist. A couple of times I heard reference to events of Olympics in the past now dropped, including chess, poetry, art, architecture and town planning. An […]