Problem of one-off houses

A HEFTY price is being paid for relaxed planning regulations, over many decades, which allowed houses almost everywhere in rural areas, particularly in western counties.

Politicians who favoured an easy approach to one-off houses are now confronted by people in the same rural communities who strongly object to plans for windfarms near their homes. The proliferation of one-off houses is also coming in the way of much-needed road projects and tourism developments like greenways being built through the countryside.

The EPA has confirmed greenhouse gas emissions have gone up here by more than 7% in two years. The Government has given a commitment internationally to reduce emissions by 20% by 2020, but there isn’t a hope of reaching that target, as we’re clearly going in the opposite direction.