ANYONE with an ounce of humanity will agree that the country needs to build more affordable housing for young people and families. This would be quite possible if government was bothered enough to introduce tighter planning laws. Currently, planning laws merely enrich landowners and major developers without doing anything whatsoever to produce homes for local people or those on low incomes.
There are no restraints on prices or on second homes. Landowners and developers are laughing all the way to the bank. As a consequence, more and more Green Belt is being concreted over but the housing crisis continues unabated.
More recently a new, underhand tactic is being deployed which further plays into the hands of landowners and developers.
Tracts of Green Belt Land are being “parcelled” into smaller lots and their Green Belt protections downgraded, opening the way to even more speculative planning applications for expensive houses well out of the reach of ordinary folk.
Purbeck, in particular, has become a haven for rich Londoners buying their weekend boltholes here and raising prices. Many Purbeck villages lay in darkness from Monday to Thursday. At the weekends it’s like Blackpool illuminations! To add insult to injury they bring all their food with them so there is no gain for local traders.
The government constantly trumpets that “the Green Belt is safe in our hands”! Complete balderdash! Mere window dressing. The reality is the creeping urbanisation of Dorset for rich people whilst ministers and MPs stand by doing nothing to tighten planning laws.
Dorset’s legendary, tourist-attracting green environment is doomed.
ROBIN SEQUEIRA, New road, Lytchett Minster
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