I have been digesting the news that Michael Gove has turned down planning permission for the Tulip Tower, a proposed monstrous development right next door to the Gherkin which looked as if it had been designed in 1955 in the pages of Dan Dare.

The fact that planning permission has been turned down could mean a number of things, all good:-

1) that Michael Gove has a mind of his own and is not necessarily going to be flattened by the army of planners, developers and consultants who think that all development is good, willy nilly, regardless of its urban and environmental consequences.

2) that planners might now pay proper attention to the costs of demolition and its environmental consequences, long overdue.

3) that the public mood may be turning against the hideousness of the new City. I note for example that Edwin Heathcote described in the FT that he could not think of a single new office development which was better than what it replaces, a pretty appalling indictment of recent office design.

Let’s hope !

https://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/tulip-carbon-decision-could-change-how-big-projects-are-assessed/5114690.article?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Building%20Design%20%20Daily%20news&utm_content=Daily%20Building%20Design%20%20Daily%20news+CID_ec3191a249a8afa572c8bf35a2836d94&utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor%20emails&utm_term=Tulip%20carbon%20decision%20could%20change%20how%20big%20projects%20are%20assessed