Ben Norton MRTPI

Chartered Town Planner specialising in Appeals and Enforcement. LLB Hons and PgCertTP. Tweets own views, not anyone else's.

[Architecture & Tradition @archi_tradition]

Most cities bulldozed their past to build the future.

But a few never changed—and they’re better for it.

Here’s what 20 timeless towns still get right about urban design…..🧵

[Ben Norton MRTPI @planner_ben]

@russellcurtis Exactly! So irritating.

[Russell Curtis @russellcurtis]

Such illiterate nonsense from the Guardian, which really should know better.
Aside from basic errors it makes about planning policy, anyone who puts the words 'housing crisis' in quotes needs to have a word with themselves.
https://t.co/RBo9iWnbsy

[Philip Oldfield @SustainableTall]

Paris continues to do amazing things with timber

Here is a 114 room hostel (for students and young workers) with shared facilities built above a tunnel

By Hardel and Le Bihan Architects

https://t.co/OlOW6K9p8y

[Ben Norton MRTPI @planner_ben]

Navigating planning policies, community engagement, and sustainability is no small feat. Our latest guide breaks it all down for developers. Check it out: https://t.co/Rvz3c30RHZ #PlanningMatters #UKDevelopments

[Ben Norton MRTPI @planner_ben]

Yesterday, thousands of farmers took to the streets of London to make their voices heard. @NortonNunn proudly stand with them—not just today, but every day.

No farmers, no food!

#SupportingBritishFarmers #NoFarmersNoFood #BackingBritishFarming #PlanningForFarmers

[Paul Smith @Paul_SLG]

Angela Rayner has called in an application for 8,400 homes just *three hours* before it was due to go to planning committee with a recommendation for refusal.

https://t.co/N75Al3jwzR

[Sam Dumitriu @Sam_Dumitriu]

It cost £297m to produce the Lower Thames Crossing's 359,866 page long planning application.

That's more than it cost Norway to build the world's longest road tunnel.

The Department for Transport was meant to decide whether to approve it today. Instead, we got another delay.

[createstreets @createstreets]

We need to put the civic back into civic architecture, visually treating citizens with courtesy not with totalitarian disdain.

Hove town hall before and after the brutalists came. Waterhouse vs. Wells-Thorpe

Via @bo66ie29

[Ben Norton MRTPI @planner_ben]

@russellcurtis We also need, desperately, more bricks, more brickies & trades, and… affordable housing providers who can afford to take on s106 homes!

[Ben Norton MRTPI @planner_ben]

@EdConwaySky Includes office to residential conversions. There’s a functional limit on these - figure will start to drop dramatically before long, as supply runs short. Plus office rents will start to rise. Crazy policy.

[Ben Norton MRTPI @planner_ben]

Straight off the back of one successful event - the Anglia Business Exhibition - we're already getting ready for the next one! Coming soon, NTN will be at the Essex Young Farmers Show 2024. #EssexYoungFarmers #EYFS2024 #CountyShow #PlannersOnTour

[Ben Norton MRTPI @planner_ben]

Congratulations to our competition winner - Faith! We'll get the Champagne - a nice bottle of @Taittinger - out to you as soon as possible Faith! Thank you to everyone who took part in our competition at the Anglia Business Exhibition #abe2024 #bizshow

[Ben Norton MRTPI @planner_ben]

It's always lovely to get a five star review - we've since worked on a number of projects with Claire.
#planningpolicy #planningadvice #planningobjections #planningapplications #recommendations

[Russell Curtis @russellcurtis]

So many people don't seem to understand this. Green belt policy has nothing to do with protecting precious rural landscapes. That's what AONBs, AGLVs, SSSIs, National Parks, Ancient Woodland etc are for!

[Ben Norton MRTPI @planner_ben]

So glad that Theresa Villiers MP has managed to see off 2400+ new homes in Barnet, on a former industrial site next to a railway line. This is the sort of dangerous site that shouldn’t be developed; instead we should build on green fields… (Not) 🤦‍♂️🙄

This is NOT an April fool!!

[Resolution Foundation @resfoundation]

New @ONS data shows house prices have stabilised with earnings since covid.

And yet, since 1997 earnings have doubled, while house prices have increased *4.5 times*.

But that's just the start of the story, as our new Housing Outlook explains 🧵⤵️ https://t.co/8THgw24ZRv

[Ben Norton MRTPI @planner_ben]

@russellcurtis @benjit14 Land prices. But the only way you reduce land value to zero is to tax at 100%. Even if you taxed at a high level, the land has residual value.