Why auction off this small parcel of land?

SEVERN Trent have a sewage treatment plant on the south eastern tip of Doveridge, in South Derbyshire, and adjacent to it is a small wooded parcel of land measuring around 1.6 acres, presumably where the outdated plant was sited.

The only access is from Church Lane, where there is a narrow strip of tarmacadam road leading down to the plant which is used only by Severn Trent on a very occasional basis. This access runs through the middle of a farmer’s land on which he grazes cattle and sheep.

Six expensive bungalows back on to the top half of the access road, and before the road enters the farmer’s land there is a permanently locked gate keeping the cattle safe.

Severn Trent has now decided to sell this parcel of land by auction on April 7 with a starting price of £30,000. Why?

What could anybody possibly do with that particular area of land, having such difficult access, without causing massive frustration and problems to the farmer and his cattle, and also the elderly owners of the six bungalows who will then have continuous traffic running up and down next to their back gardens?

People are people and they come in all their different forms, and, regardless of who buys that land, more often than not they are careless, and the gate will be left open at some stage for cattle to have a leisurely walk into the village, where they will cause mayhem.

There are two fields either side of that access road and sometimes cattle are to be found in both fields at the same time. What is the farmer expected to do to keep his cattle safe while Severn Trent’s revenue of £1.844 billion is increased by the enormous amount of £30,000?

They don’t care, do they? How would the chairperson like to be living in one of those bungalows and having to suddenly start looking out for traffic every time he puts a step out of his back garden?

The very fact that Severn Trent have decided to auction that land proves that they do not care who buys it and what problems that may cause to the local people, just as long as they get their precious £30,000. Villages are being trashed by the present panic building of houses on virgin land, and ours is just one of them. This is just another problem we have now got to suck up thanks to our very own water authority.

Dead easy to make stupid decisions when the management live 40 miles away, is it not?

Did they even consider donating it to the village to be used as an area for wildlife, or even giving it back to the farmer who can use the land productively.

This grab-what-you-can-at-anycost attitude which now prevails in our modern way of life is reprehensible. Shame on Severn Trent management.

Michael Pickering, Doveridge