Our villages and green fields are under attack from predatory developers exploiting relaxed planning laws, according to Country Life magazine, which says that rural communities are being ruined by house builders ‘let off the leash’ by the Tories and Liberal Democrat government through its National Planning Policy Framework introduced two years ago to boost development and tackle the housing crisis by cutting red tape.
As a result, developers want to build large estates on the outskirts of our villages, leaving our schools and GP surgeries overcrowded. When we try to defend ourselves from poorly conceived housing sprawl we’re considered Nimbys.
We’re fighting a war to protect our green fields, we all need to stand together. We’ll win battles and lose battles, but we’ve got to win the war to protect Rothwell, Woodlesford, Oulton and Carlton.
I welcome the fact that we now have three Neighbourhood Planning Forums in Rothwell, Oulton and Woodlesford, and Carlton all of which David Nagle and me are actively involved with. If development does happen in the next 15 years, it should be where local people decide it should be, not where a government inspector decides it should be. Neighbourhood planning should insist on infrastructure being in place to cope with any development. All those involved with our Neighbourhood planning forums are doing a wonderful job, if you’d like to get involved in your area forum please contact me and I’ll pass on your details to your local forum.
