Malcolm Tait
@malcolmtait.bsky.social
400 followers 260 following 140 posts
Researcher - planning, nature and politics. Professor of Planning, Uni of Sheffield. Very amateur lepidopterist www.planningfornature.org
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Reposted by Malcolm Tait
reclaimourmoors.bsky.social
🥾 Just shy of 200 people joined us up at Moscar Moor today to mark the start of the shooting season and united around our call for this huge grouse shooting estate in the Peak District to be taken into community ownership.
Reposted by Malcolm Tait
katefoneill.bsky.social
And lovely to see the data and code available under a CC0 licence too! doi.org/10.5061/drya...
malcolmtait.bsky.social
Completely agree - a garden is never going to replicate specialised habitats. I guess the message of providing as wide a mix as possible of plants, shrubs, and habitats is good tho, and gets us beyond the argument that all insects require is a patch of Rudbeckia!
malcolmtait.bsky.social
And another example from the French Alps where the marmots gamble, but where there aren't meadows full of Monarch butterflies!
malcolmtait.bsky.social
Really looking forward to it!
Reposted by Malcolm Tait
stuartspray.bsky.social
I am looking forward to discussing why the UK is so crap at looking after #biodiversity at the Byline Festival with Alexa Culver, @kitstoner.bsky.social, @malcolmtait.bsky.social and @carexnigra.bsky.social @bylinetimes.bsky.social
Visit the website to find out more: lnkd.in/eXfAnf3k
Reposted by Malcolm Tait
kierachapman.bsky.social
@skomerisland.bsky.social just put a BRILLIANT gay birds post up on Facebook, in celebration of Pride. And they are copping hate for it in the comments.

So please lets show them some love on here by dropping them a follow and a supportive tweet!
malcolmtait.bsky.social
Mine truly captures the majesty of these creatures. Let's see who wins!
malcolmtait.bsky.social
"the struggle between local residents and festivalgoers deserves less scrutiny than the tensions between austerity, profit and urban public space." @michaelchessum.bsky.social on Brockwell Park and YIMBYism

Uggly Fences www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ju...
Michael Chessum | Uggly Fences
‘Can’t you ping elsewhere?’ The question, daubed on the twelve-foot green fences encircling much of Brockwell Park...
www.lrb.co.uk
malcolmtait.bsky.social
Battleship grey of the battleship of a moth - the Poplar Hawk-moth
malcolmtait.bsky.social
I thought at the time of the Spring Statement that the OBR estimates on housebuilding were extremely optimistic...

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
malcolmtait.bsky.social
A nice couple of moths yesterday: Lime Hawkmoth and Elephant Hawkmoth. Both relatively common, but nonetheless very beautiful
Triangular shaped moth with light brown and green camouflage markings resting on stone. Triangular moth with green-brown and pink markings resting on stone
malcolmtait.bsky.social
It was great to speak on this great podcast. Excellent hosting from @itsbethperry.bsky.social and @goodfellowtom.bsky.social - we covered a lot in a short time, including the problematic way that the government is talking about newts and bats blocking development!
sheffieldurbanism.bsky.social
Episode 4 of Urban Radar, in conversation with @malcolmtait.bsky.social on recent #planning reforms, raising a crucial question: Are these planning reforms guiding us in the right direction?

Tune in here lnkd.in/enVHKU6g

For any feedback write to is at : [email protected]
Reposted by Malcolm Tait
sheffieldurbanism.bsky.social
At Urban Radar @malcolmtait.bsky.social & @kierachapman.bsky.social in conversation with Tom Goodfellow and Beth Perry talk about their recent report on biodiversity and planning, and why it's so important to rethink our planning approaches if we want to turn things around.

lnkd.in/enVHKU6g
malcolmtait.bsky.social
And no mention in the working paper about local authority housing targets being raised in the current system if housebuilders fail to build speedily...
malcolmtait.bsky.social
A rather belated admission from Government that housebuilders benefit from building slowly. Reheating quite a few existing ideas, and a lot rests on councils and housebuilders agreeing build out rates.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Developers face fines as Rayner steps up plans to speed up UK housebuilding
Councils will get powers to impose ‘delayed home penalty’ under latest government proposals
www.theguardian.com
malcolmtait.bsky.social
Best discussion on housing, planning and nature that I've heard in a long time.

Thanks for mentioning our research on housebuilders failing to put in ecological features - given the news on swift bricks, I think we need to continue to shout about this failure!
malcolmtait.bsky.social
Very frustrating news! Despite our research showing that 75% of bird boxes were not installed, despite being required in planning consents, apparently this isn't enough to move towards mandatory provision of swift bricks
kierachapman.bsky.social
So Labour say they won't install swift bricks because they are moving away from specific species mitigations to landscape level ones.

But swifts nest IN BUILDINGS. So how is landscape-level compensation supposed to help? Just ecologically illiterate nonsense 🤦‍♀️

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Labour blocks proposal for ‘swift bricks’ in all new homes
MPs had previously backed Conservative amendment to ask developers to provide hollow bricks for endangered birds
www.theguardian.com
malcolmtait.bsky.social
Fascinating study - would be interesting to compare with the building of the 'Dutch roundabout' in Sheffield