The Latest Breaking News from Phineas Harper

Letters: Council tenants should be encouraged to create gardens on their properties, writes Marie Paterson, while Lyn Pigney finds it strange and sad that local authorities are clamping down on hanging baskets and flower boxes

Locals say they are 'scared and stressed'

Petty policies around communal space are damaging residents’ quality of life – and are targeting everything from benches to Christmas wreaths, says Phineas Harper, chief executive of Open City

Residents of a estate in London say they have been left frightened after Greenwich Council sent men to remove 'fire risk' potted plants decorating the front of their flats

Residents of Vanbrugh Park Estate have been asked to remove pot plants and benches

The obliteration of 50,000 buildings a year is crass vandalism, says Open City chief executive Phineas Harper

As Prince of Wales, Charles campaigned for sustainable townscapes. But good intentions aren’t enough when the political will isn’t there, says Phineas Harper of Open City

Compared with our European neighbours, Britain’s homebuilders disregard environmental performance, says Phineas Harper of Open City

Letters: Matthew Scott, the police and crime commissioner for Kent, says residents support initiatives such as park bench removals that can make communities safer, but Dr John Legge, Eric Moyse and Sarah Sheils fail to see how benches are antisocial