environment1

What pompous and arrogant creatures dwell within the administrative offices of Spelthorne Council? They are not elected, not chosen by us the community yet they decide how our lives will be lead. These employees are supposedly responsible to us yet they feel free to make decisions, often unchecked and unsupervised by those we have elected. They spend our taxes as they see fit. We pay their wages and they treat us as unimportant voices when we try to question their actions and plans.

So often the interests of big business, property developers and major organisations are put above those of the ordinary residents of this Borough.

So it is with the current Local Development Plan. Of course more correctly it should be called The 'Developers Charter.' It offers property developers the opportunity to build, build and keep on building in the Borough. It offers developers nine sites within the borough to build upward of 400 new houses. How they must be rubbing their grimy hands together just waiting to be invited in by an inept council, to make their millions.

The council officials don't tell us what benefit we, the local council tax payers, will derive from all this over-development. They don't tell us how local schools, and the neglected infra structure and poor transport system will cope with this influx. They don't tell us how bringing hundreds more cars onto the roads will help us. They don't tell us how many years of misery will be endured by those who live close to these development sites with massive estate building in our midst.

So why, we may ask, is the council so intent on allowing money making developers to rip the borough apart when there is no need for the new housing in the first place. Already in the past year the Council; has allowed the building of almost double the amount of the new housing it had as a target. The Planning Department seems unable to resist the pecuniary desires of the Developers. Then, of course, one has to ask, How many of the officials actually live in the Borough?.

Unless they want to prove me wrong I am willing to bet that not a single member of the Council's planning hierarchy lives anywhere near any of the proposed sites. It would also be interesting to know how many elected Councillors live adjacent to any of the proposed sites. It's not going to be in their backyards but it will be in ours.

The Development Plan itself has now been submitted to The Secretary of State and we are told that there will be an enquiry by inspectors early in 2008. That has not stopped the arrogant officials using the plan NOW as if it had been approved and are making planning decisions based on that Plan.

What pathetic attempt at justification by inviting objections from the public. Instead of inviting all residents of the Borough to comment just a few letters were sent to those near to the proposed sites. These pointed us to a painfully complex web-site (Spelthorne Council is a wizard at this). Objections had to identify "Tests" which the council listed in its ambiguous and unhelpful way. Filled with generalisations and unsustainable rationale.

For instance we were asked how we thought the plans 'might be improved'.. That is a real nasty trick. What it assumes - arrogance again - is that the plan is written in stone and we might suggest only 'improvements'. What they do not want to hear is the answer 'scrap it'.

Many have written letters rather than complete the form and, unless they have understood that the 'tests' have to be cited by number their letters of objection will almost certainly be rejected as not meeting the complicated set parameters. That is how this council works - too little public notification, complicated rules for complaining and an assumption, always their assumption, that they know best.

THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

At this time I am not able to comment on the various objections many will have about the development plans on their doorsteps. On my doorstep is the Environment Agency and their Works site in Fordbndge Road, Sunbury.

Our Web pages give some of the history of this site and the divisive and lying conduct of the Agency over many years. For more than decade they have wanted to sell; this site for housing development. They have shown no regard whatsoever for the fragile nature of this riverside environment and now they have enrolled the council planners to support them.

I live in the flood plain next to the Agency's site. Our house is built up above the flood level and at those times when we suffer floods the water can and does flow unimpeded beneath the house. So it is with many of my neighbours on both sides of the Agency site.

The Creek, Willow Way and Park Road all lie within the flood plain at a level which allows flood water to find its level and to seep away eventually into the ground. Conversely the Environment Agency site which sits in the middle of this stretch of flood plain stands 5 - 6 metres above the natural and original level. It's presence intensifies every flood we experience. An artificial concreted solid block of raised ground covering over one and a half hectares of original flood plain. If the flood water was able to dissipate over this vast area then the flooding, a regular feature of the surrounding area, would be minimised and hundreds of homes would be better protected..

The effects of inadequate flood plains because of irresponsible building in the past has been graphically illustrated in the recent summer floods of 2007. Everyone seems to agree that the greater the area of available flood plain, the lower the flood waters will be. Common sense really!

Even the Environment Agency agrees on this. We have heard and seen the Agency representatives on TV and radio pontificating on this very matter and declaring their policy to be the protection of the flood plains and their opposition to development. What a two-faced, double standard bunch of money grabbing creeps they are. Whilst publicly declaring their opposition they blatantly exclude themselves from the very provisions they would impose on others.

Just let's take an example. If I or any of my neighbours applied for planning permission to raise the land on which our houses stand within the flood plain by say 5 metres that permission would not be given by the Council and the Environment Agency would object to such development.. They would quote their policy, "We object to developments which could be at risk of flooding themselves or are likely to increase flood risk elsewhere. "

So it's OK for the Environment Agency but not OK for you and me. Why do you think that is? And is there not just the slightest conflict of interest when the Environment Agency has to seek the approval of the Environment Agency and no-one else about whether their land in the flood plain is suitable for housing development. The response that it is suitable is not exactly surprising is it?

Over the past ten years our local community has banded together to defeat every crazy plan which the Agency has come up with for this site. Each one has had the support of the lame-brained, backside licking council planners, each proposal has been defeated by the elected councillors who, at least, had the guts to stand up for the local community.

The community attendance at the relevant Council Planning meetings where these proposals were enthusiastically put forward by the puppet planners of the Council was so great that we could not all fit into the council chamber and the passages were filled with our supporters. We heard the Leader of the Council declare that this was "the worst proposal to come before the council in his memory" - a proposal on which the Environment Agency spent hundred of thousands of pounds of public money and still lost the battle.

Only time will tell whether the successors to the brave councillors who stood up against their planners and supported their electors will have as much courage and concern for the ordinary rate payers to oppose this part of the Development Plan and possibly other equally destructive ones. Just one question remains - Why were the planners not sacked for their incompetence after this and many other serious errors of judgement? Pity we could not have a local vote on that one.

Now our campaign starts again and it is already gathering even more than the anticipated local support. The Council has sent its plan, unaltered despite public opposition, to the Secretary of State. When an enquiry is held in early 2008 there will be massive support for the opposition. Please add your name to the list, give us your support and visit our web site frequently for updates.