Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Saving the Planet


Welcome to Pennbury. This is the view you will get entering the new ‘Eco’ Town of Pennbury from the area just north of Houghton Lodge farm, Stoughton. A 10 minute cycle ride from Queens Road. The exciting news is, there will be a bio burger outlet, a new venture for the great McDonalds empire, situated just where the rape seed is in the middle distance. The lane in the foreground will have to be widened, of course, but this will be done under strict Government guidelines. In the woods to the left will be a Toyota Prius outlet covering 10 hectares. The biggest in Europe and built entirely from recycled Range Rover tyres, filled with compost and planted with evergreen bushes. The lush, green, grass in the middle will make way for a paved recreation area. This being favoured over grass by the Health & Safety committee, for obvious reasons. New residents will be queuing up to buy their Eco friendly houses, a snip at just 30% more than the comparative normal houses, but what price to share the Governments dream of a new, Eco town.

7 comments:

Affer said...

I get seriously angered at these so-called Eco Towns! In Yorkshire (and Lancashire, come to that), there were, in times gone by, many many small self-contained villages that crumbled into nothing (or, more accurately, became stone walls) as the Industrial Revolution took place and drew their inhabitants away. There is nothing that need stop the resurrection of some of these - today, nobody goes there bar a few ramblers; the land is low grade Agricultural and fit for a few scratty sheep at best or, more frequently, mega-rich grouse shooters. There is nothing to stop the faster acquisition and conversion of eco-unfriendly and production-unfriendly old mills in run-down inner cities. Or the total destruction and rebuilding of ghastly places like Keighley, Nelson, Oldham, Burnley......

Instead, our barking mad do-anything-for-a-vote Government want to completely tarmac over the South and Midlands, eliminate Grade A agricultural land, destroy the delicate water-balance. Worse, they seem to want to create a giant Megalopolis in the South that will INCREASE pollution as anyone wanting a bit of countryside will soon need to travel to the Hebrides! And all that is before we discuss exactly why we need more homes (a lot of new citizens.....?). WHY do we meekly accept it?

Sorry Toby....needed to get that off my chest!

Toby Savage said...

Well said. I'm off to fire bomb Whitehall.

Fred Fibonacci said...

Alois, Toby. You're pushing at an open door here. Less than a mile from the Fibonacci Estate in That London, Europe's biggest shopping centre is about to open in White City. Just what the doctor ordered: more shops.

Rather than give developers an incentive to build on Brownfield sites, this government wants to concrete over the funny, smelly, incomprehensible countryside, the better to control the inhabitants.

Peter Ashley said...

You are so right Fred. Right said Fred in fact. And I want to know why no one's going on about the fact that this wretched Pennbury development is going to concrete over one of the most delightful stretches of the old Roman Gartree Road. Come on CPRE.

Diplomate said...

You know - upon reflection - etc rather than build on this landscape couldn't we just use it for roaring about in gas-guzzling 4x4 hoodlum jeeps, tanks, JEEPS, motorbikes and whatsernames...

Toby Savage said...

Yes Diplo. All for that. Funny how it's socially unacceptable to drive a big 4x4 anywhere, yet the Government intends to use Bulldozers to hack up this scene.

Peter Ashley said...

I think somebody ought to give that Caroline Flint a good talking to.