road protests 1997
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From: "SchNEWS"
To: "SchNEWS Subscribers"
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 16:14:04 +0000
Subject: SchNEWS 148, 19 December 1997
Reply-to: schnews@brighton.co.uk
Peacehaven, Stevenage, & the Green Belt
According to present trends, a projected 4.4 million new households will be
created in the UK by the year 2016. The Department of the Environments 1996
Housing Green Paper says that this increase "if met in the simplest way -
using greenfield sites - would result in wholly unacceptable
environmental damage." Schemes of up to 10,000 houses are currently being
pushed through the planning offices of Britain while the Empty Homes
Agency estimate that around 860,000 homes lay vacant. ... One such site,
Peacehaven Valley, to the east of Brighton, is the last remaining stretch
of undeveloped land on the coast between Newhaven and Littlehampton.
Modwen Properties Ltd., based in Birmingham, have successfully applied
for planning permission to build 113 houses. Local residents have
compiled a 14,000 signature petition but an enquiry has still found in
favour of the development. Tony Howard, the leader of Peacehaven Town
council, has said he would welcome people taking direct action to
defend the site if it came to it. "The valley has so many owners that
if a court order was obtained to remove protesters, they would only
have to move a matter of feet and the whole process would have to start
all over again".
Over in Stevenage campaigners are fighting the largest destruction of Green Belt
in the UK - the scheme for 10,000 houses would mean a new town the size of
Hitchin.
Friends of the Earth (FoE) have set up a new unit to raise awareness and
help co-ordinate campaigns to stop the sprawl. Dr. Simon Festing, FoE is
Housing Campaigner, said "The government cannot ignore this looming
environmental disaster, and must review its housing policies now or face
mounting public criticism."
* `Halt Greenbelt Housing' conference is to be held on Saturday 17th
January 1998, hosted jointly by Friends of the Earth and Alarm UK. The
venue is 356 Holloway Road, London N7, and there will be a fee of #15 to
help cover costs. More details ring Paula Smith on 0171 566 1670.
* The Campaign Against Stevenage Expansion (CASE) can be contacted at
(01483) 315210, Dyes Farm, Langley, Herts SG4 7PQ.
* `This Land Is Our Land' by Marion Shoard (Gaia) One reviewer called
this "the best book I have read on land and the politics of ownership"
road protests 1997
| road protests (current)
| movement links