<i><p></p></i><p><i></i></p><p><b>When Hopkins Homes bought its Melton Park site it plunged the firm into brownfield development before such sites were fashionable and made it one of the fastest growing firms in the country. James Hopkins tells Ben Roskrow how the development transformed his compan</b><br><b>Some people are born to be planners. Not necessarily town planners, but life planners. You know the sort - &amp;“I always knew I was going to be a doctor/archaeologist/trapeze artist - right from when I was five years old.&amp;” These people know where they are going in life, have targets for where they want to be in one/five/ten years time and milestones that must be reached.</b><br><b>There is little doubt that this must be a useful talent when running a business of whatever sort. Planning ahead, creating strategies for growth, identifying milestones, creating benchmarks and hitting targets. </b><br><b>But it is not normal behaviour, is it? The majority of people go with the flow in life, having some loose idea about what they want to do but knowing that in reality the key will be recognising and grabbing opportunities when they arrive. Whatever they are doing today - be it housebuilder, journalist or planner - it is unlikely that is …