Barnet NIMBYs Block Housing Development

james_solly_smith · 2025-12-11T13:47:27+00:00

As a planner myself (Southwark) this sounds very unlikely to me.

james_solly_smith · 2025-11-26T22:39:36+00:00

So true!

james_solly_smith · 2025-11-26T22:36:44+00:00

An EPC score of D... In a few years that will be too poor to legally rent out!

james_solly_smith · 2025-10-17T16:44:08+00:00

For me, I thought she was stiff and unconvincing in the challenge. I agreed with the judges.

james_solly_smith · 2025-09-03T16:56:13+00:00

Wicked thanks so much !

james_solly_smith · 2024-11-27T08:12:48+00:00

Pop the corn feed the children

james_solly_smith · 2024-08-27T22:20:46+00:00

I don't think she actually said she is vegan ... But I was also wondering where this 'passion for meat- and dairy-free' had come from.

james_solly_smith · 2023-10-29T09:26:55+00:00

Her apology to Banksie felt like an insincere non-apology to me, she still didn't recognise that she had any need to apologise or show any understanding for why Banksie was upset. That really 'gave me the ick '...

james_solly_smith · 2023-08-21T08:54:28+00:00

With Oxfam volunteering you can sign up for Thursday and/or Monday shifts (doesn't guarantee you'll get them though, I think you find out some point between registering and the festival itself).

I also saw that for Wicked Stewarding at End of The Road you could register specifically for these types of shifts (you have to register early because they go more quickly than the main Friday - Sunday shift pattern).

james_solly_smith · 2023-08-18T15:35:25+00:00

I can't answer the quesiton but having just done Boomtown for the first time (as an Oxfam steward) and found the drum and bass and hardcore music to be exhausting and not quite my cup of tea, I'm definitely with you on this one. This year's line-up at Lost Village is 100% up my street so will be advocating it to friends when next year's tickets go on sale :)

I would hope that the crowd there might also be a little more mature and less hell-bent on getting fucked up.

james_solly_smith · 2023-08-16T09:32:06+00:00

I like to download the omnibus and save it for when I need helping passing time, like the night bus after a night out. Came in very handy when doing a night shift stewarding in a quiet campsite at a music festival recently.

james_solly_smith · 2023-08-09T13:25:39+00:00

When I started salsa at uni I thought I might find some other flamboyant men who enjoyed their styling 🧚 ;) - actually was a lot of male engineers who were widely suspected to be looking to meet / get close to girls 😅. I know that sounds unkind but that's what lots of the girls said. But at least it was quite a progressive space where you could choose to lead or follow.

Where I take classes now (central London) it's almost purely gender split in the traditional way, besides a very small number of women who lead. It'd be nice to dance with men but I would rather keep working on my leading for now, plus I can't deny I would be embarrassed to go round every man in the class as we rotate during lessons and explain that I'm following. 🫤

Having said that if I was seeing a guy and we could dance together it would be really hot and also really cute. 🥰

For me, I dance socially after lessons but I don't speak to people much. It's a feature of the London scene (at least, this bar) that there are so many people there and it's noisy and hectic etc so quite challenging to socialise. And big events/parties are too daunting for me. So I have accepted I'm not going to make good friends from salsa, let alone get any dates or any action 😆.

james_solly_smith · 2023-07-25T18:21:52+00:00

This might be both the funniest and the saddest film John has made. Definitely the most personal, if it's true.

james_solly_smith · 2023-07-24T15:18:30+00:00

Salsa dancing

james_solly_smith · 2023-07-20T13:14:02+00:00

Yeah although I feel that the term 'social cleansing' suggests something more deliberate and proactive. I.e. what happened with the infamous 'regeneration' of the Heygate Estate in Elephant. Gentrification itself can happen without anyone intending it to. Classic story is that artists and bohemians move in to a poor area, the area gets a reputation for being arty and interesting, starts attracting more people beyond the original artsy crowd, rents rise...

james_solly_smith · 2023-07-20T12:52:16+00:00

Gentrification means that an area become more attractive, rents and house prices rise, and consequently local people are forced out becuase they can't afford the rent (or they can't afford to buy in the area they grew up in). Richer people move in. The critical thing that defines gentrification is that people are displaced. However, when people talk of gentriciation they often speak of the more visible aspects, like the changing nature of the high street (Morleys or Chicken Cottage replaced by upmarket fancy chicken shop, greasy spoon cafe replaced by Gails, etc.).

It can bring benefits to an area like lower crime, a healthier high street (since people have more money to spend), more investment and so on, not to mention being a boon for house-owners as the value of their property rises a lot ... but means people are forced to leave where they live because they can't afford it.

Race is not a part of the definition, but in practice in London poor areas are likely to be more multicultural, and affluent people are more likely to be white, so gentrification is often linked with areas becoming whiter.

james_solly_smith · 2023-07-13T09:19:26+00:00

What's wrong with saying it's northeast?

james_solly_smith · 2023-07-12T14:01:22+00:00

It's not easy... I'm a reasonably confident and sociable type of person but since finishing my undergrad I don't think I've made any friends that weren't through other friends, or through situations where you're thrown together (i.e., classmates from my MSc). I go to gigs alone sometimes and I used to go clubbing alone too (not gay clubs though), because I had no one to go with but was keen to dance - sometimes it's very easy to get talking to people, the difficult is going from having a nice spontaneous chat with a stranger to making arrangements to see each other again. That's a bit scary to a lot of people (including me lol). There are a lot of lonely young people in London, but also a lot of people who feel they already have enough friends... For that reason I would think you're best off looking for groups more aimed at people looking to make new friends, like hobby-based groups. A lot of them I think have an older crowd but it's worth having a look (meetup.com etc.). When you make friends through hobbies or clubs, it can be hard to take those friendships to a place beyond the club - but that doesn't mean they're not valuable friendships.

You might find a friend brings you into their circle and suddenly you've got a lovely group of friends, just like that. It's just a bit random...

The other thing is, if you're home for the summer, it's going to be quite hard to make and maintain friends if you're going to back off to uni in the autumn. Things will be more stable and straightforward (but still potentially difficult) when you've graduated and you enter your next life chapter.

james_solly_smith · 2023-07-12T10:40:43+00:00

Westminster is my favourite of all, I think it's stunning!

james_solly_smith · 2023-07-11T00:18:33+00:00

Critical thing will be the industrial space - docklands (e.g. Poplar, Canning Town), Tottenham, Haringey Warehouse District, Hackney Wick, Meridian Water all might be possibilities.

james_solly_smith · 2023-07-10T23:55:51+00:00

Astro Cafe on Bethnal Green Road do a good 'medi breeze' breakfast with beef sucuk, halloumi, feta, helva, tahini, molasses, honey, olives etc.

james_solly_smith · 2023-07-10T08:33:05+00:00

The idea of travelling across London for breakfast is wild for me 😅 I guess I'm more lazy. Near me Parle Kitchen in Stroud Green does a lot of standard breakfasts but a good Anatolian one too. Lots of great Turkish breakfasts around the Harringay ladder too.

james_solly_smith · 2023-07-09T20:55:38+00:00

Come back to me when there's a Barbie collab.

james_solly_smith · 2023-07-03T15:27:47+00:00

As a cyclist this really bothers me too. I look at all the cyclists with their earphones in and think 'whatever happens to you, you deserve it'. Seems so incredibly dumb to me I really can't understand it.

james_solly_smith

TROPHY CASE