If we don’t respect nature we’ll pay price

WHILE the planning shake-up proposed by the Government may sound fine on a first reading, it risks providing a developers’ charter.

Sidelining councils may not be the best way of going about things. Often, the troops on the ground know best. And while designating every piece of land in the country for growth, renewal or protection may seem fine, it presupposes that every piece of land in need of protection is already protected.

This is not the case. Most worrying of all is the proposal to increase building in the Cotswolds by 148 per cent. And what has produced this figure – wait for it – an algorithm! We have seen from A-level exam results how wildly inaccurate this device can be.

All that will happen is that huge swathes of the countryside will be gobbled up to produce unaffordable housing in beauty spots. And rural communities would still lack the affordable housing they need!

I do approve of the plan to make every new street tree-lined. More carefully thought out, the shake-up in general could prove beneficial.

But remember, the CPRE has identified sufficient brownfield sites for one million new houses.

In addition, there are 600,000 houses in England lying empty (National Homeless Alliance) and 400,000 houses for which planning permission has been granted, but of which not a brick has been laid (House Builders’ Federation).

So there is no need of a mass plundering of green fields.

During the pandemic, many people have experienced the benefits of connecting with nature. Not just in the exercise of a daily walk, but in the mental well-being that a greener life makes possible. And scientific research has exposed the link between deforestation and the growth of zoonotic diseases such as Covid-19. If we do not respect nature, we will pay a price, as in the bush fires in Australia, and the melting ice floes of the Arctic.

But nature has helped many of us through a bad time. We have learnt to identify birdsong or wild flowers or trees. Nature is no longer in the background, but a daily inspiration.

And yet developers are still encouraged to ravage green acres when there brownfield sites crying out for development. Incursions into the green belt are becoming commonplace in north-west Gloucestershire. Have the planners learnt nothing? Little things. Only a few trees here, a couple of green fields there. Won’t matter – it isn’t the rain forest. Well, it does matter. And who can make a difference?

You can. Is swelling the profits of developers more important than mental welfare? Concreting over England’s green and pleasant land may seem a developer’s dream.

For the rest of us, it would be a nightmare. And I don’t think I could vote for a Government that allowed this. The environment matters. everyone, and that is bound to have an impact on people’s mental health.

Many blind and partially sighted people have faced anxiety, sadness and even fear about the unique challenges they have experienced – such as problems social distancing, difficulty shopping without guidance and isolation from losing tactile contact with friends and family during lockdown.

That is why the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has worked with Mind to launch Emergency Mental Health Sessions for local blind and partially sighted people to mark World Mental Health Day. The sessions are completely free and offer people with sight loss the opportunity to speak to a counsellor for an hour over the phone about however they are feeling and any problems that are on their mind. It doesn’t have to be about their sight at all.

If you or someone you know could benefit from speaking to someone, please call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999. We can set up a chat within 36 hours and the service can be used as many times as needed.

It’s been a tough year and it’s ok not to be ok, but you don’t need to suffer in silence. Thank you.

A bit of remodelling would be required at depots and stations but multi lift lorries could bring in the goods, the body of the truck could be lifted off and put straight onto the trains. When they get to their destination the reverse could be carried out – this would free up our already tight West Country roads.