Interesting letter re planning

There was an interesting letter in this week's Spectator magazine following last week's election results. Perhaps of significance, it was sent from Congleton to the national magazine. Congleton is, of course, the home of Gladman Developments Ltd.

The letters said:

Sir: How amazing that so many politicians are surprised by the message that there is dissatisfaction with the political status quo, and that this finds expression through rejection of the established political players.

Fortunately for them there were few elections in the rural districts or the message would have been even worse.

Since the inception of the National Planning Policy Framework there has been a relentless attack upon the integrity of market towns and villages, on the greenbelt, and on the fabric of the English countryside.

Democracy has been trampled on by an unholy alliance between the vested interests of some politicians and the mammoths of the construction industry.

This has not resulted in affordable housing for the young rural dispossessed but with disfiguring rashes of identikit houses and endless ruinous squabbles between the construction industry and local communities.

Our advice to politicians of every hue is to listen to us. Don't try to pretend to give us localism and democracy and then trample all over us and our opinions. Don't call us names and condescend to us. We can give you power, and through the ballot box we can take it away.

If you learn nothing else from the elections of 2014, then learn from this.
Jenny Unsworth
Congleton, Cheshire.

The editor of the Spectator, a magazine much read by politicians, made it the lead letter of the week. Possibly, it will resonate with many.

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