Quote:
Originally Posted by Pride of Somerset
This really is the most ridiculous comment I have seen on TT - Presumably Ivybridge's local council would happily accept redevelopment of 600 acres of prime farmland near their town. You are very welcome to the vast number of houses we are getting here in Taunton. Seriously - this is classic attention seeking....
|
Hello John, Happy New Year to you.
I knew that I would be stirring up a hornets nest with my comment and I was just waiting to see who was still awake during these dark dreary days of winter!
In all seriousness, I would hate to see farmland turned over to housing and as the Vice Chairman of our Planning Committee in Ivybridge I am very much against ANY greenfield development especially for wind turbines and especially those revolting solar farms which eat up prime agricultural land. We need to produce more food, I believe that in 2012, the last year for which figures have been produced that we as a country only produced 51% of the total amount of food which we consumed, this figure is nothing short of scandalous. Sadly, we are TOLD that we have to erect a certain number of new houses, not by the County Councils but by the Conservative Government who are currently in power. We have a new development called Sherford which is less than 10 miles away from Ivybridge which is a new settlement of 5,500 homes to be built on unspoilt farmland that due to objectors is running at least 15 years late and is only due to start because the government has thrown millions of pounds at the development to get it started and EACH house is paying £20,000 for in the way of a section 106 agreement (money which has to be paid by the developer to be used for new schools, education or other community use), which will raise around £111 million for new roads etc.
I know how the appearance of Taunton has changed over the years as when I was 6 we lived at Bathpool where my parents had the Post Office and General Stores. Where I use to walk with my mother on a Saturday afternoon to watch the trains is now a sports facility and new houses have been built on a farm which use to flood several times a year.