Crooked or stoopid

From the latest Berwickshire News comes this offering from a resident of Reston who,exceptionally, makes no reference to the proposed station.

SIR, - I can only suppose that the planning committee of the Scottish Borders Council is either deeply corrupt or else incapable of distinguishing its nether orifice from the joint between its upper and fore arm.
Why else are its members so keen to cover good farmland with gimcrack but expensive housing estates?
The hideously rapid suburbanisation of the eastern Borders is not providing rentable or affordable housing for young families in villages with access to a local shop, post office and school.
Since employment in the region is noticeable by its absence, the mushroom growth of tacky dwellings must be predicated on the owners commuting to Edinburgh to work - by car - while the household’s second car drives the school run, and the weekly trip to newly established supermarkets (where parking is easier) rather than patronise local shops which, however excellent, will in due course be forced to close.
So who benefits from this? One can only assume that some of the planning committee are discretely bribed by the big property companies to facilitate large-scale developments (which carry the bonus that Scottish Borders Council doesn’t have to fund the installation of the roads and services), while their more clueless fellows are persuaded as there is a shortage of housing these greedy schemes will bring universal prosperity.
Now I thought we urgently need to reduce carbon emissions by sourcing food locally and cutting back on car use - the latter not easy in these parts where scattered small settlements make public transport unprofitable.
People forget that though agriculture collapsed in the 1930s, when war came and importation of food stopped, we were adequately fed because the land could be brought back into use.
Once it has been built over that option vanishes.
Meanwhile increasing demand will cause problems with the water supply, and increased run-off (as there is less ground to absorb surface water) will place an even greater burden on the drainage and sewerage systems - Eyemouth’s woes spring to mind. It is small comfort that no doubt many of the new houses will remain empty, being over-priced, so that the property developers won’t make their expected killing.
But then what? Squatters move in? (Signed sealed and delivered)


Huttonian is not going to accuse our hard pressed planning staff of corruption. Incompetence? Known it happen. My target remains (a few) greedy land owners more interested in concrete than cereals and their willing accomplices the developers. Without the former you would get less of the latter. But if you are asking is there is an element of something approaching corruption within the ranks of our locally elected tribunes of the people, aka SB Councillors and, one means those with less than tenous links to the farming community?

Well, that's another question

A bloggee has asked for an image of a typical prime site for development in the Borders? We modestly offer the above: it has everything going for it; good road links, excellent drainage, easy reach of bustling Hutton and booming Paxton; commutable to Embra and Geordieland. And above all it is very very good agrcultural land. But surely the Building in the Countryside Legislation?......?

Yeah, right.

Labels: farmers, landowners, Merse, Planning

  ¶ 6:05 PM