David Cameron faces a growing ministerial backlash against plans to build a high-speed rail link between London and the North.

The National Trust today voiced "grave concerns" over Government proposals aimed at dramatically simplifying the planning system, warning of "damaging development" not seen since the 1930s.

Is that still going? I can't get the website to work these days.

My friend Sonia puts a pretty, embroidered card through the door: "I finally got my allotment, have you got any advice?" Sonia has been on the waiting list for an allotment so long that the boyfriend with whom she jointly applied is now married to somebody else. But that's another story.

Rain in Brazil, rain in Australia and rain in Sri Lanka. Rain is the factor that links all three large-scale disasters unfolding before our eyes in these very different regions of the world.

The racket of five decades – clamouring babies, yelling spouses and even the occasional crack of gunfire – are suddenly gone from Cabrini-Green, a high-rise apartment project near downtown Chicago that became a symbol of public housing gone awry. All will remain quiet now until the wrecker's ball strikes.

David Cameron's Big Society vision will make it easier for a handful of Nimbys to block new homes in rural areas, killing village life and hastening the demise of post offices, schools and pubs, a damning report will warn this week. It condemns a plan to allow just 10 per cent of villagers to block new homes for local people as a "giant step backwards".

Householders will be offered "economic incentives" to drop their opposition to major developments including wind farms, nuclear plants and housing estates, the Chancellor said.

It’s official - Birmingham is the UK’s ugliest city. According to a new survey, it is home to the some of the nation's least-loved buildings.

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone has agreed to help Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez improve urban planning.