JOHN Prescott has apparently declared that the countryside is endangered by 'squires and gentry' who want to preserve 'chocolate box views'.
When Gordon Brown was asked by Bill Bryson for his views regarding planning and the countryside, his response was unclear. Nick Clegg in a related interview pointed out that the Labour Government's attitude to the present planning system is that it is too slow, that they find local democracy a nuisance and that it should be ignored, or scrapped, and plans bulldozed through in the general interest.
In other words the present government may think of the countryside as marvellous — until it gets in the way of central planning, when it is just a nuisance; that those who wish to preserve our environment are also a nuisance, or socially 'incorrect', and they too must be pushed out of the way.
I hope this attitude is not that of the strategic planning department of West Devon Borough Council. Furthermore, as the CPRE makes very clear (see their website), any strategic planning department's priorities must include protection of the countryside and, specifically, avoidance of urban sprawl. West Devon Borough Council's plans do not do this.
I hope those councillors on the future planning and housing committee, meeting again in the near future, will bear this in mind. And that the dual-hatted councillors will remember Tavistock's own mission statement promises: ' . . . to work continuously to . . . enhance the natural and built heritage . . . through consultation with the community . . . ' It continues: ' . . . one of its most important functions . . . is to provide a democratic representational voice for the Tavistock community.' Voting one way for the town and the opposite in a different context is not following this spirit.
Jeremy Davies