Dear Sir
Re: ‘Forget the green belt, we need homes’ (Post: April 15, 2009)
Whether we build 500 000 new homes or not over the next 20 years we also have to focus on the other pressures that we will also experience within that time; climate change, oil and feeding ourselves. These pressures will force us all to think differently about our relationships with land and water.
We have but one planet upon which to survive. Our current lifestyles, if they were replicated by everyone alive today, would require three planets’ worth of resources. So we have a problem. The examination into the Regional Spatial Strategy commences on April 28 and housing numbers will be high on the agenda. However, we will not only be discussing numbers but the locations and types of those properties. There will also be sessions on employment land, transport and waste.
We will all have to become far more efficient in the resources we consume and treat those resources far more carefully than we do at present. Our new homes will all have to be lower carbon, as well as retro-fitting the ones we currently live in. Our places of work, learning and hospitals will also have to be climate-proofed if we are to be ready to face up to the challenges ahead.
So yes we need new dwellings but they must be in the correct location and adaptable to ever-changing needs. The sort of mistakes of the past – i.e. green field, low density and car dependant – cannot and should not be repeated. We will need regular reviews to ensure we are creating sustainable communities in the correct locations but just aiming for a huge number and not getting the details correct will be a collective mistake.
CHRIS CREAN
On behalf of West Midlands FOE
