<b><b>The Housing Forum demonstration projects - an expensive waste of time for private sector housebuilders, or a vital forum for innovation and development? Brian Green reports on a debate simmering under the surface of the industry</b></b><br><b>Innovate or die. That mantra echoed around boardrooms in the 1990s and chanted managers into the new millennium. But not so, one might think, in housebuilders&amp;’ boardrooms, where the casual listener to executive chat could be forgiven for thinking the phrase was &amp;“innovate and die&amp;”. With Ronan Point and World in Action&amp;’s 1984 expos&amp;é on timber-framed housing seared into the history of housebuilding, it is little wonder the industry has a reputation for an arms-length approach to things new. Recent dabbling, too, into what is broadly described as non-traditional building has reinforced the case for caution over creativity.</b><br><b>When Wilson Connolly heartily embraced offsite fabrication, buying Prestoplan in early 2000, it took on the mantle of champions of change. One set of poor results later saw heads roll and the new man at the top take an axe to the number of timber-framed houses the company would build. Not an advert for taking risks with tradition. For every innovative stride forward, the housing fraternity appears to …