Opinion
Featured in Somerset Guardian, The Journal and
Bristol Evening Post, July 2009
Dear Editor,
So the Government has delayed its decision over its massive house-building targets for our area yet again.
This delay is music the ears of those of us arguing the huge 21,300 target would be extremely damaging to our region. However, the utter mess of a policy created by the Government now causes major problems for the council when trying to plan for the future.
With the Government dithering over this decision it leaves the council in a no-mans-land when planning what infrastructure improvements are needed for the future and where.
Surely it is time the Government went back to the drawing board and completely rethinks these discredited plans. Instead they should come back with real proposals to improve infrastructure like utilities and transport to cope with new house-building. And they should then allow local councils the freedom to decide upon the best locations for new housing in consultation with local people.
Of course new affordable housing is needed, and any new development always means tough choices on where and how many new houses should be built. But handing over more decision-making to local councils would be far more sensible than sitting in Whitehall and sticking pins on a map. This is the approach that the Conservatives have advocated and it is time the Government listened.
Yours faithfully,
Cllr Peter Edwards,
Conservative, Publow & Whitchurch