LONDON is perpetually in the throes of planning battles. The evidence of our eyes is that, for all the complaints that developers make about the undoubted burdens of the planning system, it is their buccaneering spirit that generally wins the day.
That can give rise to outstanding additions to the capital, but it comes with two inter-related problems. The first is that the well-thought-through development proposals of today immediately become the starting point for the poorly planned and greedy applications of tomorrow.
The most startling illustration of this is the sheer quantity of totally unremarkable high-rise blocks that have sprung up like weeds around the handful of interesting buildings that have effectively pioneered London's modern skyline. Second, that a successful development inevitably engenders more.
Trying to work out in advance, however, what constitutes overdevelopment is almost impossible, particularly as new proposals naturally tend to focus on free space, the benefits of which are hard to measure or articulate.
Denne historien er fra October 02,2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 02,2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Paint the town red
Catriona Gray meets the young stars lighting up the London art scene, from auctioneers to artists and curators to historians
Last orders
As the country-house market winds down for Christmas, two historic properties—one of which was home to the singer Kate Bush-may catch the eye of London buyers looking to move to the country next year
Piste de résistance
Scotland's last ski-maker blends high-tech materials with Caledonian timber to create 'truly Scottish', one-off pieces of art that can cope with any type of terrain
The world turned upside down
THE day after my grandfather’s funeral, my grandmother sold the herd of cows.
For idyllic lunches
A HIGHLANDS picnic cottage frequented by Queen Victoria when staying at Balmoral has been saved from Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register.
A Christmas less ordinary
AT the risk of ‘indecency and tumultuous conduct’—the reasons given in 1813 for shutting down the Christmas market outside Canterbury Cathedral—the precincts of the Kent landmark abound with produce, merriment and song once more this year, for the first time in more than two centuries.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.