Stef_W

I was looking at some English placenames recently and thought they all sounded made up, and thought it would be fun to make a thing that makes up English place names — so that's exactly what I did.

Introducing: A place in England
places.projects.alextorrance.co.uk

Kicking off UKREiiF with @tpximpact.com - talking across industry and government about the new generation of new towns

Exciting being at the second ever hackathon on planning 😉 #plantech @euanmills.bsky.social - few more people here this time…

New New Towns: Rethinking Urban Development - TPXimpact | Stefan Webb As well as making a big dent in (next parliament's) housing delivery targets, New Towns are a 🤩 once in a generation 🤩 opportunity to rethink and revise how we plan, manage and deliver new commun...

(New) New Towns are pure nerdgasm for me. Learning from my Thames Gateway days and getting excited about the potential opportunities for focusing cross-gov digital activity on a few places.Also a nice way to get people excited about the long term vision.some words... www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

New New Towns: Rethinking Urban Development - TPXimpact | Stefan Webb As well as making a big dent in (next parliament's) housing delivery targets, New Towns are a 🤩 once in a generation 🤩 opportunity to rethink and revise how we plan, manage and deliver new commun...

(New) New Towns are pure nerdgasm for me. Learning from my Thames Gateway days and getting excited about the potential opportunities for focusing cross-gov digital activity on a few places.Also a nice way to get people excited about the long term vision.some words... www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

Well jels

Experimental AI could help councils meet housing targets by digitising records A new AI tool aims to modernise council planning by replacing outdated paper systems with high-quality digital data, enabling faster, smarter decisions to support the government’s goal of building 1.5...

Great to see the work of the planning data team at MHCLG and the incubator for ai getting coverage www.gov.uk/government/n... worth noting that this kind of work is only possible with well designed data standards and human focused content-designed guidance to guide the ai.

I honestly just thought that there was a fight going on in my garden - then realised neighbours must be Utd fans 😂

Drove through Blackwall tunnel for the first time post charging and my life why is the TfL website user experience so goddam directgov level of shite.

Using data design to transform the planning application process: get involved In order to make the planning applications process smoother and more efficient we need to ensure the right data is available, in the right format. In this post the Data Design team explain how they ar...

Important but less exciting work going on to standardise planning application data. Hopefully this will include the impact data necessary for the “how could this affect you” + other things to make search easier mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk/2024/10/18/u...

We’re getting there…. digitalsitenotice.camden.gov.uk/planning-app...

AI should replace some work of civil servants, Starmer to announce The new digital ‘mantra’ prompts unions to warn PM to stop blaming problems on Whitehall officials

I wonder/worry that this will target the wrong parts of the civil service www.theguardian.com/technology/2... the policy making class _should_ be the most at risk…

Is it still a thing? Pontins was an epic festival venue 😀

YouTube video by UK Music History J.T.Q and Roy Ayers live southport 23

Roy Ayers and James Taylor Quartet - Southport Weekender 98 - still in my top 3 gigs of all time. youtu.be/3MAUFNX6ZxQ?... RIP Roy 🎼

Breaking down barriers: working together to support local authorities Through collaboration between HM Land Registry and Local Planning Authorities, the Digital Planning team is working on a joined-up approach to reduce the burden of providing the data needed for local ...

Enjoy my newest listed building blog… yes really! #MHCLG
#Planning

mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/20/b...

Planning, Data & Dashboards: Stefan Webb Unpacks the Madness It's not all about the numbers! · Episode

Had great fun talking planning, evidence and mysteries (and numbers) with @mikerose.co.uk and Christopher Argent open.spotify.com/episode/6yYr...

La ritournelle. Still the best tune ever

Using AI in property transactions Anna Prozherina looks at the capabilities of artificial intelligence in property transactions and how it is likely to be used in the sector.

The law society taking about AI in property whilst charging conveyancers to download a pdf TA6 😂🫠 communities.lawsociety.org.uk/property-com...

There’s an older story about Ebbsfleet where the CEO of the delivery vehicle pleaded with Prescott to get Highways England to prioritise a junction upgrade. He said he couldn’t tell HE what to do. Took 20 years. Maybe if it’d been quicker they wouldn’t have found the spiders.

More positive pro-growth noises today in terms of cracking down on spurious JR but still dealing with the ‘shit out’ problem. Our antiquated system of opaque planning processes and rules provides far too many footholds for ‘spurious’ challenges.

How AI can rebuild planning’s foundations

Yup it’s AI hype week so why not join in. I have fears
but also some optimisim that it _could_ help level the playing field - between experts and citizens and councils and planning consultants - but it needs government to fix the data and make rules clearer www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1902...

How AI can rebuild planning’s foundations

Yup it’s AI hype week so why not join in. I have fears
but also some optimisim that it _could_ help level the playing field - between experts and citizens and councils and planning consultants - but it needs government to fix the data and make rules clearer www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1902...

Looking at the process (#notaservice) to register a public right of way with a local council (www.oss.org.uk/need-to-know...) it’s no wonder there is an unmanageable backlog.

Proper balling. #age #christmas #gavandstacey

Since the HS2 bat tunnel is back in the news (turns out it may actually kill the bats), time for one more story.

Which came first – HS2 or the bats?🚄🦇🧵

Coterminosity and alignment bros, we are so back.

Started my career in a district council some 24 years ago. Even then they felt like a strange relic. I get the feeling that unitaries reduce democratic connection but districts have so few powers now, what are you connecting with?

Hope everyone is safe and all that but thanks #stormdarragh for the lie in #kidsfootballoff

One second hand/policy prescient Prescott anecdote I have…as DPM he visited a part of the Thames Gateway where I worked and re a stalled roundabout upgrade said to CEO “I can’t tell Highways England what to do, I’m only the Deputy Prime Minister” #natioanlisenextstepsagencies

Skullcrack

Bloody loved Prescott. We’ll never see his like again. Only non-traditional route into politics now is grifting (left and right). Listening to this in his memory RIP open.spotify.com/track/6bDC6R...