@Black_Kettle Note that my surname is a modernisation of the Old English for tin wright.
Absolutely true. I’m in the same group, and the bile spewed is astonishing. twitter.com/AdamBronkhorst…
Here’s a rarity — this course usually sells out whenever we run it. But we’ve still got places for the run that starts on Thursday.
Here’s you chance to get your — our your team’s — SEO skills updated in 90 minutes a week… twitter.com/journalismnews…
Hey - are you a former member of the #interhacktives - but not yet in our Twitter community? Let me know, and I’ll add you.
Well, it’s been quite a weekend for former #interhacktives, with @carlasabreu_ turning up in my inbox for @openDemocracy and @Simmons__ turning up in my podcast app for @spectator.
Started reading: The Way Through the Woods by Long Litt Woon 📚 micro.blog/books/97819256…
Sometimes getting up early for my daughter’s 7.30am swimming class is totally worth it. t.co/aB8SS8Kyx… 
I’m actually getting to flex my community management skills a little this evening. It’s been a while, but it feels good.
@callummarius You’re very on-brand today!
Cake and blind dates with a book on our trip @steyningbooks for #BookshopDay @booksaremybag t.co/zGeQycYg8… 
@Cyberwest Look far right. t.co/UVT7tWc2A…
@Cyberwest We actually had a gentlemen with those signs…
@bigredal @timloughton Developing around an existing large tree is, to use a technical term, a bit of a bastard. They’d much rather not have the hassle, and let the local politicians take the shit instead.
Which is exactly what’s happening,
@bigredal @timloughton That five flats figure is frankly laughable, I’ve seen developers try much more outrageous shit than that, and climbed down when called on it. And “not being listened to” is not the same as “no more development”. However, that is the type of spin developers like to use.
@bigredal @timloughton Yeah, that’s a completely different argument. Speaking as a former commercial property journalist, that site could easily take an equally high density development while retaining the tree. It’s just a bit harder for the developers. Completely manageable.
@bigredal @timloughton I’m not sure I see the connection. The demo isn’t trying to stop the development - just to get it redesigned to preserve the tree.
@bigredal @timloughton A lot of politics is about emotion, not rationality, which is why, with the likely loss of the people’s totem combined with the national picture, and demographic shifts in Shoreham, this could be an interesting few years…
@bigredal @timloughton Yes, the overall emphasis should be better landscaping, which recent developments have failed dismally on. But because there’s been a growing feeling for years that the council doesn’t listen, when given a totem to focus on, that’s exactly what people have done.
@bigredal @timloughton Bluntly, I think the tree has become a totem - a visible symbol of a growing feeling of anger and frustration with the council. It’s not actually about this scheme at all, which is why the numbers argument have so little weight with so many people.
@bigredal @timloughton And I think people are allowed to feel passionately about the way their town feels.
@bigredal @timloughton I suspect it’s an emotional and landscaping issue. Many new smaller trees lack the emotional impact of the last big mature tree on the Brighton Road. It’ll be decades before the new trees create the same feel.