Homes would cause range of problems
As a Yorkshirewoman who calls a spade a spade and not a ‘horticultural implement,’ and deplores pride and hypocrisy above all the crimes an elected politician can commit, I find Angela Raynor a breath of fresh air.
I just hope that the rage she rightly feels about the conditions of low paid workers, especially carers like herself and NHS staff, translates into tangible benefits when Labour are next in government.
Nevertheless, in matters such as planning policy, planning applications, the development of industrial space and housing, one has to be objective and focus on the facts, not personalities.
The Conservative ward councillors in Midsomer Norton are not particularly friends of mine – in fact they have got carried away in council debates at times and said some pretty nasty things about me, but it is only because we have a shared passion to improve life in the Somer Valley and the rest of our unitary authority
So I absolutely agree with their sentiments on the Mendip Local Plan.
If these developments for 550 dwellings or more go ahead ‘over the border,’ it will put intolerable pressure on our schools and medical services, but more to the point the situation on the A367, the Fosseway, built for marching slaves to the mines, and for chariots of the Roman Army in AD49, will get even worse.
Congestion will make the air quality in Westfield even worse, particularly the schools and Bath College, but more to the point, we have a climate emergency, and it is outrageous to build commuter suburbs, which is what these estates will be. Our priority should be job creation so that people can afford their rents and mortgages, and developments, like the one consented for the RADCO site in Radstock/westfield ward, should be on brownfield sites.
Meanwhile, another month, another B&NES planning committee with controversial applications.
The Lower Bristol Road sites were brownfield sites, but housing would come at the cost of employment potential, and in the case of the Bath Press, loss of a significant landmark for the labours of working people 100 years ago, which made Bath prosperous.
Planning decisions have to be governed by policies which were adopted by democratic vote, after long consultations, the planning framework set down by the government, and professional judgements by our highly trained officers and properly trained councillors.
It just needs to be remembered that planning inspectors are not infallible, whether in their adjudication of the previous Bath Press application, or the Mendip Local Plan.
All I can say is, change the national government.
It is unacceptable to heap blame and abuse on officers who are only doing their job, like the rest of us, to the best of their ability.
Eleanor M Jackson (Cllr) Radstock, Lab. Westfield Ward, in a personal capacity