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Hello all, it seems this has kicked off quite a debate. I could say a lot more, but for the moment I'll respond to just a couple of points:
A few people have commented that (Great) Farthingloe is a 'former industrial site'. Technically yes, and I'm not against seeing some reasonable development here, although it was supposed to be employment land not residential. The problem with building up to 521 houses there is not so much the impact on the site itself, but the impact on the entire valley, as these wil be visible right up to the Hougham turnoff and will effectively urbanise this bit of countryside for ever. The fact that the committee treated this impact so lightly (and believe me they did) is the really worrying bit. I was at the meeting and heard them. I'd applied to speak but it was awarded on first come first served so didn't get to.
Also, several people have accussed me of nimbyism and of backing similar schemes when I was a councillor and on the committee. Nimby is a cheap insult designed to stop local people having a legitimate say in things that affect the place they call home. I've never accused anybody of it and it doesn't add anything to the debate. It is only applicable in cases of hypocrisy, where someone supports something elsewhere then objects to it on their doorstep. In my time on the Planning Committee I faced some difficult decisions and I'm sure I didn't always make the right ones, but I always tried to make the right decisions and I never treated protections like AONB and Conservation Areas lightly. You need an exceptional case to set these things aside and that wasn't made the other night. I repeat, I'm not against the concept of any developement at Great Farthingloe, but this decision is putting the interests of the developer and their profits above all other considerations. It mirrors the attitudes coming out of central government, which I've been unhappy about for quite a while, and so I decided I no longer wanted to be associated with the Conservative Party.
Best wishes to everyone who's taken the time to post a response so far.
