Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

27,000 hectares of green belt land might be built on.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) examined regional spatial strategies (RSS), which include housing development plans, and calculated that 27,000 hectares of green belt land will be built on by 2020.

A CPRE spokesperson said 'We need more homes, but they should be delivered in a way that will not damage the environment and people's quality of life'.

The South West Regional Assembly (SWRA) has drawn up a RSS for this area which wants to foist yet more housing on the Trowbridge area.

When you look at how the SWRA is composed, that really comes as no surprise. Some of the members are councillors (but you haven't actually elected any of them to the SWRA, they are appointed from leading political party councillors over the whole of south-west England) whilst the balance come from Chambers of Commerce and industry. Many people would think that a system that allows housebuilders etc. to have a strong influence on housebuilding was, not to put too fine a point on it, 'bent'. Needless to say, our wonderful Labour government sees nothing wrong in this system!