12:00pm Monday 15th March 2010
IHAVE been reading about the proposed Herefordshire expansion and understand that there are draft plans to enlarge the size of Leominster by 50 per cent. I am amazed and horrified.
I know the Government has decided that the whole country has to share the building of a lot of new houses and it seems Herefordshire is part of this scheme. Leominster appears to have been given more than its fair share in this area.
Could I suggest this is more of the Government’s woolly thinking, like other ideas the Government has had?
For instance, that selling off some of the country's gold to buy Euros would make us richer, or expecting a less regulated banking system would get rid of “boom and bust”.
Building huge numbers of houses where there is no work will only produce problems.
The new residents will need hospitals, schools and public transport as well as more road space but might well not bring prosperity to the county. If anything, it might bring higher county expenditure.
In the past, housing was built when a need was seen, not the other way round. We certainly need affordable housing but I did not get the impression this was to be built first or as the priority.
It seems large housing estates will circumnavigate new road systems with the idea they will be filled with consumers who will increase the retail sector.
I am sure the council has found out what sort of businesses are growing here and what new businesses need support. Let the businesses lead the way, not Government imagination.
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