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I Change and Challenge
This
newsletter is being compiled at a changing and challenging time.
Our Branch executive has been enfeebled by the retirement
ofTom McDonald as Chairman, as he moves into a more political sphere as
District Councillor, and by the resignation of three members due to a desire to
spend more time with their families and friends.
I
sometimes wonder if emails, popping onto the screen at any time of the day (not
quite 24/7 but certainly 16/6) are partly responsible for people looking for
the exit more quickly than in the past.You can no longer deal with the post and
say ''That's it for today''. When you receive a long report with the request to
comment as soon as possible because the sender'will be on leave next week', you
feel that the voluntary sector is being absorbed into a new professional class
of unpaid assistants!
Worcestershire
CPRE will survive these losses, of course, and there are already encouraging
signs that we are reaching the turning point. Janet
Inside
this issue
Chairman's report NO to new town Regional housing 2007 AGM
Broadway Show Redditch report Wychavon report Worcester report Malvern Hills
report Bromsgrove report Best-kept churchyard 300 Club
Windmills
Contacts
Mackinnon has taken over some of the commitments vacated by
David John and her expertise will be a major asset to the Branch. Marie Brown
has stepped courageously into the daunting secretarial role vacated by Gillian
John. David Willour has brought his Americanstyle courtesy and cheerfulness to
the Executive as he wrestles with the intricacies of our constitution.
In spite
of these advances, we need more volunteers in some Districts, not merely to
help with monitoring planning applications but also to form the nucleus for the
next generation of Branch Executive members. Our overall membership is holding
near 600 and has not declined as much as in neighbouring counties.This is
attributable to the sterling efforts of Steve Gowenlock, although he has now
decided to step down as Branch Development Officer.
Moving to other matters, much of this newsletter is concerned with the
threat of still more houses, coming forth as part of the Regional Spatial
Strategy. It is easy to become depressed and regard the Government's insistence
that around 36,000 more houses be built in Worcestershire in the 20 years to
2026 as being far more than ever before. In fact, the 199 I to 201 I plan was
for 41,000 dwellings to be built, and some Districts achieved their quota with
five years to spare. Even without the impetus given by Kate Barker's simplistic
notion that house prices will fall as more are built, we would probably have
had to build around 25,000 in the next 20 years, if only to keep builders in
steady employment.
Nonetheless, 25,000 houses and flats would have been more tolerable than
36,000, requiring far less incursion into our Green Belts and other areas of
countryside due to overflow from Worcester and other towns. Unfortunately, it
has been like hitting one's head against a stone wall to dissuade the
Government from pressing on with the higher demands, as both our national and
regional representatives have found during the past two years. It continues to
be mesmerised by the economic advantages of immigration, though how a 3% per annum
increase in GNP produced by a 4% rise in population is a particularly good
bargain for the country is less easy to justify, particularly when only a small
minority seem to be creaming off the additional wealth.
Worse still, the government is now
anticipating an acceleration in immigration, much of it converging on England as usual. Projecting recent trends is notoriously foolish but at least the
government has stopped pretending that the situation is stabilising.
Immigration is now at the top of the political agenda and the subject is being discussed
as one of'preference' rather than 'prejudice'.
By the time this newsletter is published, we will probably be coming to
the end of a public consultation on the Issues and Options for South
Worcestershire. Whether this will resolve or confuse the situation remains to
be seen, but a similar exercise for the whole county in 1997 resulted in none
of the options being adopted. At that - time, one option was for a
new town and this proposal seems to be resurfacing. We will not be supporting
this, for reasons given later. It is, however, becoming vital that the
Government confronts the problem of uncontrolled immigration, along with the
number of empty and second homes. Otherwise, our capacity to absorb the
remorseless demand for more houses through modest expansion of our existing
towns and villages will become impracticable.
Frank Hill Chairman
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