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Smart Growth UK @smartgrowthuk.bsky.social · 4h

Today is International Day of Rural Women.
So let's celebrate the women in the UK who are defending nature, farming, landscapes and heritage against those who are seeking to profit from their destruction.
stories.undp.org/guardians-of...

Guardians of the land - United Nations Development Programme | UNDP

In Uruguay, a group of rural women is breaking down structural inequalities and combating the negative effects of climate change.

stories.undp.org

Smart Growth UK @smartgrowthuk.bsky.social · 22h

But it's clear the "blockers" to a sustainable future include those in government blocking environmental approaches to development.
Keir Starmer needs a basic rethink of his economic and planning policies. The 1980s #CarDependentSprawl policies he is pursuing will achieve nothing but destruction.

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Smart Growth UK @smartgrowthuk.bsky.social · 2d

We urgently need a stronger and wider #planning system to ready us for the big challenges coming down the tracks: #ClimateChange, #conflict, #FoodSecurity, #WaterSecurity, #ExtremeWeather, #flooding, #SeaDefence etc..
Instead, we get Treasury obsessions about 1980s-style growth.
tinyurl.com/vx559ss4

The Guardian view on Labour targeting nature: the problem isn’t snails, but a broken housing model | Editorial

Editorial: Rachel Reeves’s drive to speed up development is beginning to treat wildlife and the environment as expendable. Voters want homes built, but not at any cost

tinyurl.com

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Smart Growth UK @smartgrowthuk.bsky.social · 3d

BLOG Planning is having a "moment".
But does the profession want to be just a junior partner in the development industry, or would it prefer to be a key player in meeting sustainable development goals?
It's make your mind up time.
tinyurl.com/3jbarzs9

Planning’s “real moment” – a dangerous one – Smart Growth UK

tinyurl.com

Reposted by Smart Growth UK

International Institute for Sustainable Development @iisd.org · 4d

With 5 years left to meet the 2030 Paris Agreement and #SDGs, #IUCN2025 comes at a pivotal moment.

Our expert, Alec Crawford, explains the importance of this year’s congress and work being done at all levels, from policy to community-led adaptation and #NatureBasedSolutions. 👇

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Reposted by Smart Growth UK

MichaelLondonSF @michaellondonsf.bsky.social · 4d

Oh dear. This is the crux of the miserable EuroParl housing document. Comments by 17th. Have a good weekend.
Housing 101

Underlines that the main cause of the housing crisis is the insufficient supply of dwellings… bottlenecks…regulatory burden…. recalls that that…price controls…often worsen

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Smart Growth UK @smartgrowthuk.bsky.social · 4d

Today's reminder for all those who believe man-made climate change is a myth made up because, er, er...

Sustainable Us @havantenviro.bsky.social · 4d

Drought declared in Sussex.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Drought declared in Sussex due to declining reservoir levels

Ardingly Reservoir water levels are at 27.6% of its capacity, according to the Environment Agency.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Smart Growth UK @smartgrowthuk.bsky.social · 4d

Today's reminder to protect and enhance the rural landscape.
Including America's.

Christine Hallquist @christinehallquist.bsky.social · 5d

Vermont Autumn Beauty at the Fluery Maple Farm in Richford Vermont

Reposted by Smart Growth UK

Earth Negotiations Bulletin @enb.iisd.org · 5d

#IUCNcongress Razan Al Mubarak, IUCN President speaking at High-level Dialogue on Nature is Everyone’s Business: Business depends on nature. Half of global GDP, US$44 trillion, relies on biodiversity! "When ecosystems decline, business resiliency and growth decline!"

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National Emergency Briefing @nebriefing.bsky.social · Sep 9

The age of warnings is over.
The climate and nature crisis is already here, threatening our food, health and national security.
On 27 Nov, top UK experts deliver the official briefing our leaders urgently need. Make sure your MP attends❗️

#TimeToStepUp
www.nebriefing.org

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Smart Growth UK @smartgrowthuk.bsky.social · 6d

So, here is the moment at which #nature and #countryside conservation organisations need to say "enough".
Ignore the bogus fictions about abstraction permits protecting the water environment.
This is a frontal attack on the environment on behalf of housing developers.
tinyurl.com/2xydubtv

Thousands of new homes get the go ahead in North Sussex

21,000 new homes in North Sussex unlocked after four-year bottleneck

tinyurl.com

Reposted by Smart Growth UK

Peter Wills @cornews.bsky.social · 6d

www.cornwallecon.com/post/not-a-h...

[Not] A housing shortage – the fallacy behind the new towns policy

The government announced the locations of 12 new towns on September 28th. New towns are between them expected to create at least 10,000 new homes in each location. So why new towns?The government bel...

www.cornwallecon.com

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Smart Growth UK @smartgrowthuk.bsky.social · 6d

As we've been saying for some years, current policies threaten many things including #FoodSecurity, nature, social order etc..
Could Sir Keir_Starmer confirm whether or not Downing St wants to supress this report - presumably in furtherance of its "growth" agenda?
tinyurl.com/2552azd8

National security threatened by climate crisis, UK intelligence chiefs due to warn

Report by joint intelligence committee delayed, with concerns expressed that it may not be published

tinyurl.com

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Smart Growth UK @smartgrowthuk.bsky.social · 7d

The Government is apparently about to "unblock" (i.e. impose planning consent) on a 20,000-home nature-wrecking development in Sussex.
So why is it pushing 10,000-home new towns which apparently need long-term government subsidy & management?
tinyurl.com/4hee25vb

Rachel Reeves clears planning blockage amid ‘good relationship’ with developer

Exclusive: Chancellor says 20,000 homes were being held up due to ‘some snails that are a protected species or something’

tinyurl.com

Smart Growth UK @smartgrowthuk.bsky.social · 8d

#CowpatEstates put the car-dependency into #CarDependentSprawl.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Housing scheme would turn Dishforth into 'town with no services' - BBC News

Villagers strongly oppose the proposal to build 98 homes on land off Topcliffe Road.

www.bbc.com

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Smart Growth UK @smartgrowthuk.bsky.social · 9d

HM Treasury has now spent almost 25 years smashing up the planning system in its fruitless quest to secure more house building and economic growth.
When are we going to get ministers who realise they're being played as fools by commercial interests?
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Ministers to announce significant changes to UK’s planning system

Exclusive: Differences over changes to environmental and legal provisions to prompt economic growth hint at chaos at heart of government

www.theguardian.com

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Smart Growth UK @smartgrowthuk.bsky.social · 11d

Er, why do we need more productive grasslands when the country doesn't have enough grain producing land to feed itself?

Reposted by Smart Growth UK

EmmanuelSPV @emmanuelspv.bsky.social · 11d

Before (2014) / After (2025) Rue Petit, Paris 19. Yes, that’s the same spot, cf the mural ad :) The large garage and its big parking have been replaced by residential buildings. Many garages have disappeared from Paris over the last few years, one of the signs of its ongoing transformation.

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Reposted by Smart Growth UK

New Economics Foundation @neweconomics.bsky.social · 12d

🏡How can we make sure everyone has access to a decent home while sticking to our climate goals and protecting the planet?

In a new report from NEF and the Social Guarantee we outline how applying a universal basic services approach to housing could be the answer.

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Reposted by Smart Growth UK

CPRE, the countryside charity @cprecountryside.bsky.social · 12d

The UK is the fifth-worst in Europe for green space loss, with 1,680 football pitches of protected land lost in five years.

Brownfield sites with planning permission sit unused. We must rethink our towns & cities as compact, sustainable places that celebrate the countryside on their doorstep.

UK fifth-worst country in Europe for loss of green space to development

Exclusive: 1,680 football pitches of protected natural land in England, Wales and Northern Ireland lost in five years

bit.ly

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Reposted by Smart Growth UK

Stephen Frost @sfrost.bsky.social · 12d

How do you know your city is a healthy habitat for people? A decent place to start is whether children can play freely in their neighbourhoods and get around independently.

This is an excellent introduction to Tim’s work and the benefits of shifting away from car centric urban spaces.

The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 14d

New episode up! We talked with researcher Tim Gill about how we need to make our cities safe for children, not cars. "Children are basically living very captive and kind of contained lives, and that's just not healthy."
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

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Smart Growth UK @smartgrowthuk.bsky.social · 12d

Easier said than done with so many politicians wedded to high-carbon, 1980s style growth.

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Pr Carlos Moreno - IAE Paris1 Sorbonne University @carlosmorenofr.bsky.social · 13d

2 octobre, sortie de mon livre en français sur la ville du 1/4 d’heure, une idée qui inspire le monde, chez Eyrolles.
Traduction et mise à jour de l’original écrit en anglais et publié par Wiley en mai 2024.

RV le 7 octobre à Paris, 18h30
Inscription obligatoire
www.eventbrite.fr/e/billets-so...

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Reposted by Smart Growth UK

Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 13d

"Some have chosen to deride the increasingly evident signs of climate change, to ridicule those who speak of global warming, and even to blame the poor for the very thing that affects them the most."

BBC News - Pope Leo condemns climate change critics
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Pope Leo hits out at critics of global warming

In his first major statement on climate change, the pontiff criticises those who minimise climate change.

www.bbc.com

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Reposted by Smart Growth UK

James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 13d

On the same day the Conservatives blame net zero and renewables for high energy costs, a detailed new study explains how Spain's net zero and renewables have given it some of the lowest power prices in Europe. www.businessgreen.com/news-analysi...

What can the UK learn from Spain breaking of the 'ruinous link' between gas and power prices?

Wind and solar growth has reduced the influence of expensive gas and coal on Spain’s electricity prices by 75 per cent since 2019, new analysis finds

www.businessgreen.com

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