Elected representatives should listen to voters

Chris White, MP for Warwick and Leamington calls for a rethink on the Local Plan (Courier August 10) but does not go far enough and support the many local residents who question the assertion by government, councillors and officers that there has to be endless growth and development of ever more housing in Warwick district.

I attended two of the Local Plan consultation meetings, at Trinity School and in the parish church in Old Milverton. Both meetings were very well attended and the public anger and mistrust voiced by residents was unanimous at both.

What particularly annoyed residents, who are after all the electors of both our MP and of the local councillors, was the repeated declaration of that well tried bureaucratic get out phrase that “there is no alternative” and that the massively inflated housing targets have been handed down from central government and failure to comply by WDC would be impossible.

Perhaps Chris White, as our MP, should now direct some of his questions to Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary in the coalition government he supports, who had such a lot to say about localism before and during the General Election, and is now the minister responsible for planning matters. Last year, the government issued controversial proposals to “simplify” the planning system, which experts warned would make it easier for developers to build in the countryside.