THING OF THE WEEK
COLOUR… Channel Four’s big interiors battle saw aspiring creatives let loose on eight apartments in Manchester-based developer Capital&Centric’s Eyewitness Works in Sheffield. Seven of the homes have now been snapped up by renters seeking something out of the ordinary but one final flat remains on up for grabs. Designed by Justine Guillermou, who was eliminated in week four, the apartment looks like it has come out second best from a scrap with a Dulux colour chart.
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TEEPEE TIME… What’s more festive than one teepee? Two teepees. We are all familiar with the Spinningfields teepee, which provides a warm refuge for lager-loving revellers during the winter months but there is a new tent in town. New Century has opened a huge marquee in NOMA’s Sadlers Yard known as Nova Star where you can bask in cosmic Christmas surroundings while gorging on cheesy roast potatoes.
Chorley’s new prison will house 1,700 inmates. Credit: via planning documents
HAPPY… Rightmove has released the results of its 13th annual happiness questionnaire. The firm spoke with 35,000 people to find out where the happiest place to live in the UK is. Woodbridge in Suffolk came out on top, Richmond-upon-Thames came in second, and Hexham took bronze. The North West only has two entries in the top 20: Kendal in Cumbria and Chorley in Lancashire. It is worth noting the survey was carried out before Angela Rayner greenlit a super prison in the Chorley green belt.
Credit: via Hough Bellis Communications
SKILLS… Speaking of prisons, HMP Styal has become the first women’s prison in the UK to put construction on its curriculum. Seeking to empower its inmates while addressing the industry’s skills shortage and lack of diversity. Procure Plus is behind the initiative, which will provide a 10-week property maintenance BootCamp.
Keir Starmer has promised to published the revised NPPF before 2025. Credit: Flickr user Keir Starmer via CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0, bit.ly/40heHCq
PLANNING… Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has saved Christmas by promising to have the revised NPPF published before year end. This welcome announcement follows reports earlier in the autumn that the planning document would not be ready until the new year. News that the NPPF, the only thing dryer than your Christmas turkey, is in fact coming in 2024 is welcome news for planners, and, more importantly, their friends and family, who now don’t need to bother buying them a gift. What do you buy for someone who has got everything*?
*Hundreds of pages of planning policy to trawl through.
