The idea of this page is a place to collate breaking stories about all issues related to our campaign. They might be directly related to the Regional Spatial Strategy, flood risk issues, toxic waste risk, social housing, agricultural land shortages, anything that supports our case that the RSS is a wrong-headed approach to the housing shortage. There has been a huge upturn in such stories in February, so our campaign is very much on the national agenda – keep listening!
Send your stories to webmaster@savethecountryside.org.uk – or just leave a comment containing a short description and a link to the story if its on the web.
1. 1/2/09 From Adrian Skilling: This report raises the issue of a food crisis in the UK and the need
to support UK farms and lack of agricultural land.
Obviously building on agricultural land with exacerbate any crisis.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/01/gm-crops-food-shortages
3. 17/2/09 Conservative Greenpaper on Local Government
Among a raft of new initiatives, this green paper provides a mechanism for local authorities to join forces to topple the Regional Developement Agency for their local area, confirming rumours that the Tories would like to see this undemocratic layer of government dismantled.
Original here, http://tinyurl.com/d5mjuj and covered elsewhere here http://tinyurl.com/bztlr2
4. 21/2/09 Richard Burt’s petition to suspend the RSS gathers support. The Malvern local press report that 500 have already signed this new petition against the RSS.
http://www.malverngazette.co.uk/news/4132246.Petition_against_mass_housing_gathers_support/
5. North Somerset Councillors attack minister for the SOuth West Ben Bradshaw
When councillors pressed the minister at Severn Barrage meeting about progress on the RSS, they were angered to get the reply ‘We shall be pushing ahead with the housing proposals” and are now publicly questioning whether the Government is planning to ingnore the 35000 comments on the RSS.
Full story at: http://tinyurl.com/awvhs6
6. 21/2/09 This story, which was widely covered, confirms public perception that the Government has been approving housing in flood risk areas in a desperate attempt to meet housing targets. Out view is that if the Government found more ways to support the building of social housing, total numbers required from developers would be far less so avoiding the need to build houses in areas of high risk.
http://www.greenbuildingpress.co.uk/article.php?article_id=108
7. 4th March. Two more stories from Bristol.
Plan Announced for new city outside Bristol in Weston Mercury. Its scary this RSS – they are planning to build 10,000 in a new ‘city’ just outside Bristol – see this page http://tinyurl.com/cmsza8
“HOLA!” or Hands off Long Ashton is launched to protect their Greenbelt from the same mini-city announced in the story above. See http://tinyurl.com/cwrky6
8.25th Sep. GOSW delays publication of the Regional Spatial Strategy for the South West (SWRSS) due to legal challenges on sustainability against of East of England RSS.
