Housing needs vs myths

After the election, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) will launch a campaign to de-bunk the myths it claims have grown up around housing. This was revealed on 25 March by Shaun Spiers, chief executive of the CPRE at a public meeting at Cardinal Newman School Luton.

The myths, say CPRE, is that we need lots of houses yet for over 20 years the UK has been building homes at a greater rate than our population growth. CPRE insist this effect has not been perceived because of such things as the rise in second home ownership (not so much an issue around here as in the Cotswolds and south-west England, I expect).

CPRE is accused by some as “not taking an holistic view”. Councils have a duty to co-operate with London on providing housing needs: it stretches to neighbouring councils of those neighbouring London, so Bedfordshire is affected. If you Google the 'Bedford 51' letter, you'll see it sets a backdrop for the working relationship between Boris's GLA and other councils on housing.

The important thing is for us not to demonise sofa surfers or young people under 30 still living with Mum and Dad. And for us semi-rural types to welcome the town and city dwellers who aspire to move to semi-rural locations to bring up a family while commuting to work in London or other towns and cities. (I know that's what my husband and I did for seven years before we switched, me to a job in Bedford and Chris to being self-employed.)

It shouldn't stop us scrutinising what CBC is doing, or fighting hard to keep our green spaces and Green Belt gems, but I hope this wider understanding will help us achieve a balanced tone. At the meeting, someone remarked how brownfield development has made London a better place to live and work in, so concluded “this can happen in Bedfordshire too”. But can it? How much previously built on land in need of re-development is owned by the public sector and how much by the private sector? And is the cost in time and money of compulsory purchase prohibitive? Is there a will to find the way to do it?

Or will the eight national house-building companies continue to insist on controlled release of new homes for sale, to ensure prices remain buoyant, so undermining the public sector's ambitions?

I urged CPRE to relaunch their inter-active website tool from 2014 whereby people could send in photos and descriptions of places near where they lived that were abandoned and ripe for re-development. These varied in size from small plots in Hitchin and Shefford to multi-acre sites within Vauxhall's complex in Luton. Of course, ideally local councils would do this as part of their work to engage with their residents, but there were no Tory members of CBC to hear that or indeed any other suggestion.

What is your view or experience? Please let Janet Nunn know by comment on this blog, by email to janet.nunn@ntlworld.co.uk or by writing to 113 Manor Road, Barton-le-Clay, Bedford MK45 4NS

CPRE and Chiltern Society host Green Belt public meeting Weds 25th, Warden Hill

Dear fellow Bartonians,
I intend to go to the following public meeting, so do let me know if you want/need a lift.
Many thanks,
Janet Nunn
882799

Public Meeting
Protect Our Green Belt!

 

Green Belt land in southern Bedfordshire and northern Hertfordshire is threatened as never before by huge levels of development.

Find out what’s at stake in your community and what
you can do about it.

Speaker: Shaun Spiers, National Chief Executive of Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE)
 

---

7pm, Wednesday 25th March 2015

Venue: Main Hall, Cardinal Newman Catholic School,
Warden Hill Road, Luton LU2 7AE

All Welcome
This meeting is a joint event by local countryside charities CPRE Bedfordshire, CPRE Hertfordshire & The Chiltern Society.

For more information & directions - www.cprebeds.org.uk

To go safely

This month's Focus newsletter hit a few raw nerves. The poor state of roads and footpaths at various points around the village was flagged up also by:

• Jackie who's concern at the faded marking on the zebra crossing between Gale Court and the surgery. This is used especially by schoolchildren and the elderly on this busy east-west rat-run between the A1 and M1. See photo below. 

I reported it to highways@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk and urge you to do the same if you share the concern. And is this enough or is there a need for a lollipop person (school crossing patrol person) or a traffic light controlled crossing to ensure motorists stop at busy schooltimes? Do let me know your experience.

• Bob who welcomed support for his long running campaign to have the pavement on the northern side of the Sharpenhoe Road outside number 4 repaired.
• Ken, who was pleased to hear I'd reported the sunken drains on the southern side of Sharpenhoe Road as one leaves the village going west, then added his own observations of more sunken drains on the bridge crossing the A6 into the village. And I've since been made aware of how deep the drain cover has sunk on the east side of Bedford Road next to the bollard crossing at the village centre end of Manor Road. Clearly motorists keep clear of the bollards but have caused the drain cover to sink, which a (motor) cyclist might not see outside daylight hours.

Email highways@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or call 0300 300 8049 to report highways problems to Central Beds Council. And please, keep me in the loop with how you get on or for my support.

Janet Nunn
tel: 882799 or e-mail janet.nunn@ntlworld.com

March 2015 edition of FOCUS newsletter

The latest edition of FOCUS for Barton-le-Clay is available to download here.

Bartonians' views on housing development

A sincere thank you to all who returned our survey to tell us what you think is the best way forward for housing development around here and in the country more generally.

There is a real appreciation of the need to (re-)develop sites in towns and cities here in the South-East but also in the Midlands and the North. There's also wide support in principle for the idea of developing towns into garden cities where locals support the notion, although several people here thought Ampthill should be excepted.

As for Barton-le-Clay and walks out to surrounding villages, the majority cherished the Green Belt and wish it to be safeguarded. Janet Nunn and Jonathan Paxton thank you for your responses.

1. General - Use of paths around Barton-le-Clay: The vast majority of respondents regularly use our footpaths, but a small handful have developed mobility issues with age and can no longer do so. This highlighted that people who use a wheelchair or mobility scooter also want to gaze on the lovely views around here, yet the staggered fence blocks access to the Bunyan Way footpath east off Manor Road. Can this be made wheelchair friendly?

2. Our most used paths: In order of popularity, these were the paths east of Manor Rd; south from Church or Old road; west towards Sharpenhoe; north from Higham Road. 

3. Bartonians' favourite places: the favourite walks were
a. around Barton-le-Clay: to Hexton; to the springs and up the Barton Hills; to the Sharpenhoe Clappers.
b. around other Beds-Herts villages: in order of popularity, around Silsoe, Pegsdon, Old Warden, Shillington, Meppershall, Clophill, Maulden, Shefford, Pirton, Ashwell, Woburn, Woburn Sands, Harlington, Holwell, Willington, Arlesey, Dunstable Downs, Lilley, Kimpton
c. among towns of Beds and Herts: in order of popularity, Hitchin, Ampthill, Bedford, Luton and its Stockwood and Wardown Parks, Stotfold, Harpenden and its Common, Hertford, Wyboston
d. of Beds, Herts, Bucks cities: MK, Letchworth, St Albans, Stevenage, Welwyn GC, Tring, Aylesbury
e. other: London, Cambridge, Oxford

4. New Housing sites proposed were:
a. in/around Barton-le-Clay: the vast majority said none; two said the infrastructure wouldn't support more growth; one person suggested Faldo Road and west of Barton-le-Clay; one person said 'west of village centre, off Sharpenhoe Rd'; one person said 'on the several available plots around Barton' without identifying any
b. in/around villages of Beds/Herts: people felt strongly that brownfield sites be used and also suggested of Sandridge, Wheathampstead, Wilstead/Wixams, Offley, Cockernhoe and one person saying 'we're not qualified to comment'
c. in/around towns of Beds/Herts: brownfield sites were overwhelmingly urged, citing Stopsley and Luton, especially the old Vauxhall site; inner Dunstable and Houghton Regis near new by-pass; Leighton Buzzard; Stewartby, Kempston; Bedford; corridors along M1-A1M; extension of new sites in Wixams, Silsoe
d. in/around cities of Beds, Herts, Bucks: MK, Luton South, Stevenage, Aylesbury
e. other: general support for brownfield site development; one person said there was 'plenty of room around Bucks villages, but they'd need their transport links improved'.

5. Make certain willing towns on the Oxford-Cambridge axis into Garden Cities:
a. support: most people supported the idea; a handful were unsure; two said 'not Ampthill' and one opposed
b. prefer to grow villages in SE England: two people supported this option and all other respondents disagreed
c. prefer to grow cities and opportunities around UK - the SE has enough: several people supported this proposal, with one person citing how 'North and Midlands towns need better investment and opportunities'; one person said 'by far the best idea'; one person was 'unsure about the SE having enough'
d. other: town regeneration and maintaining villages were the preferred priorities. One person thought Lincs with its low population density had great scope for development.

Prioritising mental health at last

The NHS and its budget are matters for national debate and settlement, yet many of us deal with the NHS only locally: the GP and maybe the local hospital or physiotherapy centre.

While most ailments are satisfactorily taken care of by local NHS services at their pace, sometimes there is a greater urgency and need to harness the support of all available resources. For mental health, this should include family and carers, but it's not always observed in practice.

A tragic example of such a failure came as a result of the suicide of former Harlington Upper School student Lizzie Barnes, aged 20, in December 2012. At her inquest, local mental healthcare body SEPT admitted to failings in the care of Lizzie and produced an action plan with six recommendations to put into place. These included that “communication with carers needs significant improvement”*. Sadly, this lesson chimes with the experience of other families.

I wholeheartedly support the work of Health Minister Norman Lamb MP to destigmatise mental health and place it on the same footing as physical health in the NHS. Local delivery is right, but so too is national standard setting and oversight. Some lessons ought not to be learned the hard way.

If you're interested in joining our local GPs' Patient Participation Group, post a Bargoose Contact Form in their Suggestions Box. Copies may also be downloaded from their website: http://www.bartongroupsurgeries.co.uk/bargoose_patient_participation_group_p2775.html?a=0


*http://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/news/local/health-trust-admits-to-failing-lizzie-at-inquest-1-5716118

The latest edition of the Barton-le-Clay FOCUS is available to download

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