Be Sure to Understand:
This land above has no value socially, culturally, environmentally or aesthetically.
It can, nay must, be forsaken and destroyed for housing and offices.
You have no right to oppose or appeal.
Once developed the UK will PROGRESS!
Once developed it will have a value and you'll be grateful for the banks may smile down upon you!
The noble Times news paper finally awoke to the risks of biodiversity offsetting over the last few days. Glad they could join us. Better late than never. Biodiversity Offsetting is coming to a green field near you and journalists have awoken.
Of course Owen Patterson was straight out there saying that it would be highly unlikely that Ancient Woodland would be destroyed for development. Well lets take in to consideration:
1. This Government is already deconstructing planning control, so how would they know?
2. The vanity project HS2 will be destroying tens of ancient woodlands.
3. Back in the summer the Government sanctioned 32ha of Ancient Woodland destruction at Oaken Wood in Kent.
4. The Government has said nothing about the proposed motorway service station at Junction 35 of the M1 in Sheffield that would destroy an Ancient Woodland.
Sorry Owen, your platitudes do not wash, at all. You can not be trusted with the environment, and even if you could be trusted just protecting Ancient Woodland is not good enough. With so many empty properties and brownfield sites there is no excuse for any greenfield loss in any circumstances.
Lord Wilson reckons 92% of the UK is not developed so a loss here, a loss there is not significant. So the implication is that it is fine that developers can roll ahead until the only green space left is SSSI and AONB.....is that a UK you want?
Yet still the Lobbying Bill progresses. Just in case you do want to say what is right for you and your part of the UK the Government will gag you in any case. The Lobbying Bill quite shamelessly seeks to stop those nasty charities and campaign groups from lobbying MP's, yet treats private lobbyist differently, those private sector lobbyist involved in destroying your environment, or involved in the arms trade, or involved in tobacco or alcohol that costs the Governments purse so so so much. These companies can buy in anti-democratic lobbying firms and still access Government, yet Cancer Research, RSPB, RSPCC etc (with all their nasty ways and political bias) would not be able to Lobby!
The Government seem to think that it's the charities and campaigners who are spending the £2 billion/year on lobby-firms and not the private sector. Really. Enough of my words, what does Bishop of Oxford Lord Harries say of the bill?
"profoundly undermining the very fabric of our democracy".
Angela Eagle calls it 'sinister' and I agree.
The Conservative Government Manifesto said “Vote blue, go green” and this was their environmental mantra back in 2010. The manifesto said they had the
“responsibility to be the greenest government in our history”.
The Government has sought to reform the planning structures that have been developed through the wisdom of time, introduced the vile hypocrisy of biodiversity offsetting and now wants to gag the complainants - hectares upon hectares of greenbelt is threatened with infested rancid development, there are protest groups springing up like Japanese knotweed across the country, many lose the fight or will to fight through lack of legal and professional strength and the continuing name calling of opponents. They have no hope in the future.
All my years of environment enhancement is for nothing.
